Marie Krysinska’s Castles: Architecture as Feminist Engagement

This article argues for an architectural reading of poems by Marie Krysinska (1857–1908), lone woman of the free-­verse poetry movement, by focusing on the image of the castle. Close readings of châteaux in Krysinska’s poems reveal her use of architecture to challenge patriarchal authority. This analysis sheds light on the breadth of the poet’s feminist engagement, which included critiquing racialized, ethnic, and appearance-­based stereotyping, condemning violent conflict instigated by men, and celebrating women’s nonconformity through gesturing toward non-heteronormative desire and other affective modes of creation.