Degree Name

MA (Master of Arts)

Program

English

Date of Award

12-2007

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Mark S. Holland

Committee Members

Thomas A. Holmes, Judith B. Slagle

Abstract

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, 'The Petrified Woman," "Tom Rivers," "One More Day," "The Brilliant Leaves," and "The Presence," to explore gender relationships and how Gordon's background and personal beliefs impacted her body of work.

Document Type

Thesis - unrestricted

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

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