We will
1. advance our understanding of Wharton and Porter.
2. learn to discuss and interpret Wharton and Porter critically.
3. understand Wharton’s and Porter’s similar/different approaches to depicting gender relations.

We will
1. advance our understanding of Wharton and Porter.
2. learn to discuss and interpret Wharton and Porter critically.
3. understand Wharton’s and Porter’s similar/different approaches to depicting gender relations.

This seminar explores the depiction of gender relations in the fiction of two prominent American writers, Edith Wharton (1862-1937) and Katherine Anne Porter (1890-1980). The first half of the course will be devoted to studying Wharton’s two works, The Age of Innocence (1920) and Ethan Frome (1911). The second half of the course will focus on Porter’s short stories, tentatively including “Old Mortality” (1937) and “Flowering Judas” (1930). We will explore Wharton’s and Porter’s works along three lines. First, literary analyses will help us understand the writers’ characterizations and narrative techniques and their story themes. Second, historical inquiries that relate the writers’ works to their lives, their compositional contexts, and their story settings will help us perceive the social construction of gender roles. Third, intertextual and Wharton-Porter comparisons will shed light on the meaning of changing gender roles.

This seminar explores the description of gender relations in the fiction of two prominent American writers, Edith Wharton (1862-1937) and Katherine Anne Porter (1890-1980). The first half of the course will be devoted to studying Wharton’s two works, The Age of Innocence (1920) and Ethan From (1911). The second half of the course will focus on Porter’s short stories, tenatively including “Old Mortality” (1937) and “Flowering Judas” (1930). We will explore Wharton’s and Porter’s works along three lines. First, literature analyses will help us understand the writers’ characteristics and narrative techniques and their story themes. Second, historical inquiries that relate the writers’ works to their lives, their composite contexts, and their story settings will help us perceive the social construction of gender roles. Third, intertextual and Wharton-Porter comparisons will shed light on the meaning of changing gender roles.

Porter, Katherine Anne. The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter. New York: Harcourt, 1979. Print.
Wharton, Edith. Ethan Frome. 1911. New York: Dover, 1991. Print.
Wharton, Edith. The Age of Innocence. 1920. New York: Bantam, 1996. Print.

Porter, Katherine Anne. The Collected Stories of Katherine Anne Porter. New York: Harcourt, 1979. Print.
Wharton, Edith. Ethan From. 1911. New York: Dover, 1991. Print.
Wharton, Edith. The Age of Innocence. 1920. New York: Bantam, 1996. Print.