At the altar of lares : domesticity and housekeeping in Caroline Howard Gilman's Recollections of a housekeeper ; and, Plainly written : openness, politeness, and indirect discourse in Jane Austen's Emma
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Stephanie Renee Robinson (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Karen Weyler
Abstract: "Caroline Howard Gilman's novel is an early example of domestic fiction which sought to promote the authority of the middle-class woman. This paper explores the ways in which housekeeping was used as a tool of domesticity and a measurement of value in a domestic-oriented society. Gilman's text explores domesticity as both a catalyst for positive change as well as a limitation to class mutability. In using indirect discourse in her novel, Emma, Jane Austen exposes and critiques aspects of manners relating to gender and class. Despite valuing openness over empty politeness, Austen balances exposure and betrayal in her novel: although Emma's faults are made clear, the narrative does not betray her or make her unlikable. Austen exposes a critique of conventional social behavior without marking herself out as a radical. The intricate nature of indirect discourse allows the narrative to be both straightforward and reserved, to interrogate without openly rebelling."--Abstract from author supplied metadata.
At the altar of lares : domesticity and housekeeping in Caroline Howard Gilman's Recollections of a housekeeper ; and, Plainly written : openness, politeness, and indirect discourse in Jane Austen's Emma
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Created on 5/1/2007
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Language: English
- Date: 2007
- Keywords
- Caroline Howard Gilman, novel, fiction, authority, middle-class, woman, housekeeping, tool, domesticity, measurement, value, domestic-oriented, society
- Subjects
- Gilman, Caroline Howard,--1794-1888.--Recollections of a Housekeeper
- Housekeeping in literature
- Courtesy in literature
- Etiquette in literature
- Domestic fiction, American
- Austen, Jane,--1775-1817.--Emma