Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1990

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Coyle, William

Abstract

The early heroines of Hamlin Garland are the voices of his discontent. Their actions underscore Garland's advocacy of change, both sociological and artistic. Jane Ripley ("Mrs. Ripley's Trip") and Agnes Dingman ("A Branch Road") highlight his involvement with the plight of Border farm wives. The core of his doctrines emphasizes their need to establish an identity in a dehumanizing world. In A Spoil of Office, Ida Wilber is Garland's proponent of individualism. She is a heroine who applauds the woman's shifting profile in society. Rose Dutcher (Rose of Dutcher's Coolly) epitomizes the author's crusade for eradication of the double standard. She is the allegorical "new woman" who wears female equality and personal freedom proudly. Bessie Blake and Mary Brien (Her Mountain Lover) symbolize the need of local-colorists to become literary iconoclasts and shun wordsmiths of the past. They manifest Garland's zeal for a national utterance.

Extent

98 p.

Comments

Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1990.|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters

Identifier

FADT14577

Format

pdf

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