Biography as promotional discourse: The case of Maud Gonne

This article explores the cultural impact of critical and popular biographi es about Maud Gonne. By focusing on Gonne as primarily an object of Yeats's desire, this biographical discourse, I argue, serves political and economi c, rather than 'purely' literary, purposes: these biographies romanticize G onne's considerable political contributions and capitalize on a flourishing Yeats industry that reinforces the representation of Gonne as an interesti ng but minor figure in twentieth-century Irish culture.