Ancient Egypt

This chapter examines how ancient Egypt was represented across Michael Field’s oeuvre, contextualising such depictions via the wider literary culture of the fin de siècle, from the aesthetic and decadent movements to popular fiction. In comparison to the classical world, which held a more privileged place in education and literature, Egypt symbolised the exotic, dark, and ‘other’. Through close readings of Michael Field’s Egyptian sonnets, their verse drama Queen Mariamne, and references to Egypt in Bradley and Cooper’s diaries, the chapter explores the erotic allure of ancient Egypt and the limits – in Bradley and Cooper’s minds – to its queer potentialities. It also investigates how mummified remains, goddesses, and figures like Cleopatra VII were used to navigate themes of power, desire, and gender, ultimately positioning Egypt as a fertile ground for reimagining gender fluidity, femininity, and transgressive sexuality around the turn of the century.