English Language and Literature Commons^™

Hearing Adam: Gender Relationships In The Short Fiction Of Caroline Gordon., Linda Elaine Hipple

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Writer and critic Caroline Gordon has been a participant on the Southern literary scene since the early 1930s, yet her works have been neither studied nor appreciated as frequently as the works of her male contemporaries. Her novels and short fiction never received the critical acclaim that they merited due to the perpetuation of the erroneous idea that women have little to say. While at the time other female writers were exploring their emancipation, Gordon retreated to the consistent confines of male-dominated tradition and created fiction embodying her conservative philosophy. This thesis will examine five pieces of her short fiction, …

Trophies Or Treasures: The Burden Of Choice For Mothers, Wives, And Daughters In Washington Square, The Portrait Of A Lady, And The Bostonians., Melissa C. Huisman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the world of Henry James's novels, characters are often placed in difficult situations where their happiness depends on their ability to make a free choice. Female characters are manipulated and diminished by a patriarchal system that not only seeks to subordinate their will, but also to objectify them, to place them on the shelf as a trophy. Fathers and husbands are typically the controlling agents, but James also presents women who appropriate the dominating role.

With varying degrees of success, each female character rejects the status of trophy. Instead, each attempts to make choices and determine her own future. …