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A Family Portrait: Domestic Dynamics In The Fiction Of Mary Lavin, Lisa Lorraine Montagne

UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations

Mary Lavin (1912-1996) was fairly well-known in Ireland during her lifetime; however, there has been relatively little critical attention paid to her, especially in America, throughout her fifty-year career. This study focuses on the domestic dynamics of the family in Lavin's fiction, whose world is influenced by the more harsh realities of early twentieth-century Irish society: the Victorian expectations of traditional gender roles, a rigid social caste system, and, at times, misguided religion. It is the purpose of this study to explore whether Lavin's characters can find happiness and fulfillment by acting according to personal conscience within this closely-prescribed social …