“Man’s Country. Out Where the West Begins”: Women, the American Dream, and the West in Joan Didion’s Slouching Towards Bethlehem

<p>This paper examines the feminist perspective in Didion’s collection of essays <em>Slouching Towards </em><em>Bethlehem</em><em>.</em> Throughout the text, Didion looks closely at the West and the changing social climate which surrounds her. Her essays chronicle women struggling to find a balance between the domestic and independence promised by myth the West. I analyze how women are granted only limited participation within the American Dream because of the masculine power structures which dominate our society. As the values of the American Dream shift, the women that Didion depicts attempt to find identity and independence despite the restrictive forces around them.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Year

2012

Author dc:creator

• Maidlow, Coleen

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Malmgren
• Dr. Hazlett
• Dr. Hembree

• Joan Didion, Feminism, American Dream, Myth of the West, Women
• Literature in English, North America

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/1597

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarworks.uno.edu:td-2629