The Hidden Women’s Labor Behind Modern Literary Masterpieces – The Public Domain Review

As far as the archival records show, Véra enjoyed fulfilling these duties, and the Nabokovs’ marriage was happy. However, unhappy marriages can also be productive literary partnerships. TS Eliot once said that his troubled marriage to his first wife Vivienne Haigh-Wood “triggered the state of mind that arose from The WastelandBut Vivienne played other roles in the poem’s composition. “I have made a rough draft of Part III,” Eliot wrote in a letter, “but I do not know whether it will succeed, and I must wait for Vivienne’s opinion as to whether it is printable.” Like Véra Nabokov, Vivienne was an essential first reader for her husband. An important early draft of The Wasteland is covered with notes by Ezra Pound which, thanks to his own fame and role in finding a publisher for the poem, have been the subject of much scholarship. However, Vivienne also left important notes on the poem. Scholar Arwa Al-Mubaddel states that Vivienne’s impact is greatest in the second part, originally titled “In the Cage”, and Vivienne provided the title of the final part, “A Game of Chess”, which features dialogue between a man and a woman who resemble the couple.