DOI
https://doi.org/10.25772/6DV4-A235
Author ORCID Identifier
orcid.org/0000-0002-4636-2811
Defense Date
2017
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
English
First Advisor
Dr. Les Harrison
Second Advisor
Dr. Katherine Saunders Nash
Third Advisor
Dr. Carolyn Eastman
Abstract
Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne are arguably two of the most highly read and heavily debated nineteenth-century antebellum authors in America. Their writings fascinate readers, while their character depictions, particularly their characterizations of fictional women, prompt intense academic debate. This thesis examines the previously less-studied historical developments surrounding Poe and Hawthorne in the antebellum era that shaped their approach to writing fiction. In particular, this study scrutinizes the effects of the development of a newly popular art form, ballet, the ascendency of female authorship, and the impact of American theatrical reform upon antebellum authors’ authorial faculties, especially Hawthorne and Poe.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
5-6-2017
Included in
Dance Commons, Literature in English, Anglophone outside British Isles and North America Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons, Theatre History Commons, United States History Commons