Date of Award
2015
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Submission Date
October 2026
Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]
Luria, Rachel C.
Abstract
The Southern belle trope has long been a method through which authors explore social and political experiences. The Southern belle began as a way for authors to represent a convoluted past, while describing the aesthetic beauty of the land and people who lived on it. Although some iconic characters such as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire, and Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God, challenge the traditional understanding of what it means to be a Southern belle, they serve the same purpose in each respective novel as the more classic Southern belles that I examine such as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind, and Skeeter Phelan in The Help. This thesis will explore how the presence of the Southern belle within a novel acts as a thoroughfare by which an author can explore the topics of equality, racism, naturalism, exploitation of women, and the impossibility of social growth.
Recommended Citation
Myers, Taylor M., "THE SOUTHERN BELLE EFFECT: A STUDY OF THE STRONG FEMALE CHARACTERS IN SOUTHERN AMERICAN LITERATURE" (2015). Harriet L Wilkes Honors College Theses 2010 - 2019. 209.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_honors_2/209
Extent
50 p.
Identifier
FA00013652
Comments
Includes bibliography.