May Kendall

May Kendall was the pen name of Emma Goldworth Kendall, an English poet, novelist, satirist, and social reformer educated at Somerville Hall, Oxford. She co-wrote That Very Mab with Andrew Lang, using the return of Queen Mab to modern Britain as a framework for comic arguments about science, religion, politics, and social convention. Kendall also contributed to Punch and published the poetry collections Dreams to Sell and Songs from Dreamland. Her verse frequently joined wit with contemporary debates about evolution and women’s position in society. Later, she reduced her professional literary activity and worked on social questions, including rural poverty, with Seebohm Rowntree. That Very Mab belongs to the playful side of her bibliography, yet its fantasy depends on careful observation of Victorian institutions and assumptions. Kendall’s writing is therefore best understood as both imaginative literature and social criticism, with humour allowing her to test confident claims from several intellectual camps without turning the book into a simple tract.