English Language and Literature Commons^™

"That Damned Morality": Willa Cather's Reaction Against Victorian Female Roles In O Pioneers! And Tje Song Of The Lark, Sarah Elizabeth Moore Horne

Theses & Honors Papers

Reacting against Victorian ideal that influenced her childhood, Cather creates numerous gender reversal throughout her fiction. This thesis notes the gender ironies contained within her works to conclude that Cather was herself a liberal, demanding that society’s status quo be eliminated. While America’s political climate did affect Cather’s work, her political ideologies remain difficult to interpret when contrasted with her fiction. Throughout much of her fiction, Cather attempts to raise the social status of certain facets of society and dispels many myths concerning gender.