Susan Glaspell's Century of American Women: A Critical Interpretation of Her Work

180 Pages·1993·8.43 MB·English

by  Veronica Makowsky

Susan Glaspell's Century of American Women
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SUSAN GLASPELL'S
CENTURY OF
AMERICAN WOMEN
A Critical Interpretation
of Her Work
VERONICA MAKOWSKY
New York Oxford
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
1993
Oxford University Press
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and associated companies in
Berlin Ibadan
Copyright © 1993 by Oxford University Press, Inc.
Published by Oxford University Press, Inc.,
200 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016
Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of Oxford University Press.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Makowsky, Veronica A.
Susan Glaspell's century of American women : a critical
interpretation of her work / Veronica Makowsky.
p. cm. Includes index.
ISBN 0-19-507866-7 (alk. paper)
1. Glaspell, Susan, 1876-1948-Characters-Women.
2. Women and literature —United States —History —20th century.
3. Heroines in literature. I. Title.
PS3513.L35Z75 1993
818'.5209-dc20 92-23329
135798642
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For Joshua Jeffrey Gross
who provided the inspiration
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Macmillan Publishing Company for allowing
me to reprint the portion of Chapter 2 that appeared in their Scrib-
ner's Modern American Women Writers. I am grateful for a sum-
mer of research support from Louisiana State University. Karen
Law, Mercedes Schneider, and Sigrid King have my admiration
and gratitude as ideal research assistants.
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Contents
Introduction: The Hydra Heads of Obscurity, 3
1. American Girl Becomes American Woman:
A Fortunate Fall? 12
2. The Glory of the Conquered: Cultural Confusions and
Apprentice Fiction, 29
3. "Fidelity" to the Future through "Visioning," 44
4. Passive Resistance to Active Rebellion:
From Trifles to The Verge, 59
5. Whose Life Is It Anyway? The Road to the Temple, 83
6. Ghostly Revenants and Symbolic Sons:
Fugitives Return, 101
7. Symbolic Fathers and the Revenge of the Dutiful
Daughters, 117
8. Older, Wiser, and Sadder: Glaspell's Female
Reifungsromane, 133
Notes, 147
Index, 163