Sarah Orne Jewett's Place in American Realism - Jewett as a Feminist and Beyond
Ziad Attar
Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Koblenz-Landau (Institut für fremdsprachliche Philologien - Fach Anglistik), course: Hauptseminar: American Realism in Context, language: English, abstract: The seminar Realism in Context took place in summer term 2005 at Landau University. The instructor, Prof. Dr. Martin Klepper, led the students through the seminar where each of the students had to present a topic related to or concerned with realism. As a result of the instructor’s and students’s work Prof. Dr. Martin Klepper published the paper Realism in Context - A Student Reader which was written by himself and the students.One of the books that were read in class during semester was Henry James’s The Portrait of a Lady. The central theme in this book is the relationship of the protagonist Isabel with Osmond.The following seminar paper deals with the local color writer Sarah Orne Jewett, a female novelist, poet, and short-story writer. After explaining the definitions of realism and feminism in the second chapter, Jewett’s place in American Realism will be discussed in chapter three. Hereby it is neccessary to emphasize Jewett’s masterpiece The Country of the Pointed Firs, first published in 1896. Realism, feminism and feminist writing will be discussed and analysed on the basis of some selected works and texts.In chapter four it is important to show Jewett’s life beyond gender and beyond her writing. Annie Fields, maybe Jewett’s best friend, played an important role in Jewett’s life. Sarah Orne Jewett’s best-known works will be introduced. Carol Schachinger, who is impressed by Jewett and her home very much, takes us to a “trip“ back to Maine to tell us how and where Jewett lived. At the end, the summary in chapter five closes the seminar paper.The guiding line that will lead us through the seminar paper is Jewett as a feminist and beyond.Pointing out the importance of The Country of the Pointed Firs, Willa Cather writes in a 1925 essay:”If I were asked to name three American books which have the possibility of a long, long life, I would say at once, The Scarlet Letter, Huckleberry Finn, and The Country of the Pointed Firs. I can think of no others that confront time and change so serenely” (xviii).
