In the history of literature, women have appeared more as subsidiary figures toinspire or help male authors than as creators of literature themselves. Dante’sBeatrice, Petrarch’s Laura, and Dorothy Wordsworth can be cited as classicalexamples. Maud Gonne, Yeats’s lifelong lover, does not go beyond the boundary. Inhis poetry, Yeats portrayed her as an embodiment of eternal beauty, femme fatalelike Helen of Troy or Deidre of Ireland, heroic figure of unbounded nobility andcourage. But Yeats did not always praise and idealize her. He showed hisdissatisfaction with her violent political activities and in his poetry she appeared as aheedless, overly proud woman who had wrought her own misfortune. But howeverdiversified and numerous her images may have been, she exists in his poetry asobjectified images shaped by Yeats’s transformed imagination. But in 1997, Maud’sletters to Yeats during the entire period of their acquaintance were published.Through them, we can get access to her as ‘a speaking subject’ uttering her ownthoughts and emotions. We can acquire firsthand information on their relationshipand direct response to the various incidents. By analyzing her letters in detail, I triedto present hitherto unknown aspects of Maud Gonne and shed light on somemisunderstandings about her. For example, some critics denounced her indifference toYeats’ poetry. But in her letters, she continually advised him not to let other activity― be it political or theatrical―deprive him of his time and energy to engage in hisproper work-writing of poetry. And her sincere concerns for the poor, the suffering,and the underpriviledged and her sympathetic understanding of women’s situation inIreland have been hitherto unappreciated. As this essay’s main concern is Maud Gonne as a speaking subject of the letters, its aim is not an authoritativebiographical study on Maud Gonne, but to view her life from a new perspective.