‘Blundering Brutuses’: Michael Field, nonconformism, and the politics of social purity

Alex Murray

doi:10.1093/litthe/frac010

‘Blundering Brutuses’: Michael Field, nonconformism, and the politics of social purity

Alex Murray

School of Arts, English and Languages

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Abstract

This article explores the contexts of nonconformism and social purity that underpin Michael Field’s (Katharine Bradley and Edith Cooper) verse drama Brutus Ultor (1886). Based on new archival research, the article explores Bradley’s role in the Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act and argues that the play is a complex commentary on the social purity movement and, in particular, on W.T. Stead’s campaigning journalism. More broadly, the article argues for the importance of Michael Field’s nonconformist background in the development of their oeuvre.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	229–251
Number of pages	23
Journal	Literature and Theology
Volume	36
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/litthe/frac010
Publication status	Published - 17 Sept 2022

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10.1093/litthe/frac010Licence: CC BY

‘Blundering Brutuses’: Michael Field, nonconformism, and the politics of social purity
© 2022 The Authors. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited.
Final published version, 263 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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‘Blundering Brutuses’: Michael Field, nonconformism, and the politics of social purity

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