Date of Award
1990
Document Type
Honors Thesis (Open Access)
Department
Colby College. American Studies Program
Advisor(s)
Karen Oakes
Second Advisor
Charlie Bassett
Third Advisor
Pete Moss
Abstract
The fiction of Sarah Orne Jewett is not traditionally classified with the 'greats' of canonical literature. Many feminist scholars and critics argue that Jewett's excommunication may be in part because her writing doesn't fit the pattern of most American classics, those novels that Nina Baym labeled, "Melodramas of Beset Manhood."l There is no search for the father, no hunt to kill, and no discernable plot. Instead, Jewett depicts the world of female rituals, female relationships, and female initiations, or rites of passage. Her atypical style and format may not fit the classic pattern of adventure and initiation, but she offers a glimpse into a part of Americana that is not portrayed by Melville, Hawthorne, and the like.
Keywords
Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909 -- Criticism and interpretation, Women in literature
Recommended Citation
Milsop, Jennifer, "Corporate hierarchies: communities of women in the fiction of Sarah Orne Jewett" (1990). Honors Theses. Paper 168.https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/honorstheses/168
Copyright
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