Date of Award
8-2006
Level of Access Assigned by Author
Campus-Only Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
Advisor
Laura Cowan
Second Committee Member
Patricia Burnes
Third Committee Member
Robert A. Brinkley
Abstract
Based on Rebecca West's The Return of the Soldier and Harriet Hume, this thesis examines West's reconsiderations of the conventional roles for women and the suggestion of new roles for women in a context that connects the public and the private spheres. The changes in women's roles underscore women's agency and their subject positions that allow them to reconstruct the emotional and sexual order and participate in the restructuring of civil society. West places both her female characters and male characters in the center of her narratives. Through examining insignificant domestic events, West reveals a panoramic picture of British society-the declining patriarchal structure and the weakening imperialistic and colonial powers. Through disentangling the relation of reality and its alternative-delusion and fantasy, West forcefully foregrounds the social reality. Her presentations of women's roles are securely located in this changing social context.
Recommended Citation
Huang, Yi, "Between Reality and Fantasy: Rebecca West's The Return of the Soldier and Harriet Hume" (2006). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 1101.
https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/1101