After publishing nine major books of poetry in the first 25 years of her career, Margaret Atwood’s poetic output slowed dramatically, with just two new collections (aside from selected works) published since the 1980s:

(1995) and

(2007). Atwood’s large audience is now principally attentive to her fiction, so while her early books of poetry were thoroughly appraised, especially in Atwood’s home nation of Canada,

and

received less critical attention. These books, however, demonstrate an intriguing shift in emphasis. Her early “soundings of female consciousness were forensic and archetype-obsessed” (Starnino), and critics emphasized the young poet’s analysis of power, duality, and imperialism, often…

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Citation: Sorensen, Sue. "The Door". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 19 September 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=22992, accessed 25 April 2024.]