Realism In Willa Cather's A Lost Lady
Detailing the deceit within the small fictional town of Sweet Water, Willa Cather’s A Lost Lady warns of the ignorance of the subjectivity of man’s perspective. Written when the nation was embroiled in turmoil from the aftermath of the world war, A Lost Lady mirrors the literary conflict of the time between romanticism and realism. Redefining the argument between viewing the world in terms of ideals and flaws into one over the view of women, A Lost Lady critiques the belief in the idealistic true woman through the shattering of a young man’s worldview as he grows up. Depicting the male narrator Neil’s discovery of the flaws of his perfect woman, Mrs. Forrester, A Lost Lady utilizes the crumbling of a romanticized outlook of life to strengthen its …show more content…
Entertaining discussion with Neil over the beauty of a visiting mistress, Mrs. Forrester comments that the girl is “considered pretty,” purposefully omitting her opinion to implicitly imply that the girl is not pretty in the eyes of Mrs. Forrester (28). By specifically using “considered,” Mrs. Forrester only furthers Cather’s argument that perfection is subjective as the girl is flawed to Mrs. Forrester (28). Instead of highlighting her impolite behavior, Neil takes it in stride and later tells her that she is still “lovely” (30), even after realizing that, whenever Mrs. Forrester describes other women, “she always made fun of them a little” (28). By creating the contrast from a young idealistic Neil desiring to see the best in Mrs. Forrester and the older Neil wishing for things to stay “the same,” Cather draws a distinction between idealism drawn from hope compared to idealism drawn from complacency, harping on Neil’s desire to maintain his ideals even after realizing its flaws
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Summary In The Joy Of Nelly Deane
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The Diction Of Dr Jewett
322 Words | 2 PagesIn Willa Cather’s essay she unfolds Sarah Jewett’s ability to express her feeling for writing through her diction to form art. In Sarah Jewett’s novel, her feeling for writing is shown through her main character who came to New England to write her own novel. Jewett shows the struggles she feels when writing her own novels through her character. In one of the passages she writes, “Literary employments are so vexed and uncertainties at best and and it was not until the voice of conscience sounded louder in my ears than the sea on the nearest pebble beach that I said unkind words of withdrawal to Mrs. Todd”(18). Miss.
Empathy In Eugenia Collier's Marigolds
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Literary Devices In A Rose For Emily
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Realism In Willa Cather's O Pioneers !
807 Words | 4 PagesIn the novel, “O Pioneers!”, the character Alexandra Bergson ties to the author, Willa Cather. When Cather wrote this story, she used a lot of her own characteristics to develop Alexandra. In the story, Alexandra learns that Realistic, Romantic, and Naturalistic views exist throughout everything one might go through in life, very similar to what Cather most likely experienced. Cather’s three philosophies on life go along with the topics of Realistic, Romantic, and Naturalistic. I personally think Cather had more Realistic tendencies in her writing and overall mindset.
Morality In Ann Radcliffe's The Romance Of The Forest
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The Cult Of True Womanhood Analysis
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