Redefining the Gothic: How the Works of Carson McCullers, Tennessee Williams & Flannery O'Connor Retained Gothic Roots and Shaped the Southern Gothic

<p>My aim in this thesis is to explore the commonalities between Carson McCullers, Tennessee Williams and Flannery O’Connor, particularly in terms of three main themes: isolation, the pervasion of American normalcy and gender roles. While each of these authors clearly inserts some autobiographical information into his or her characters, the real commonalities between the fictional characters can be found in their inability to fit into a traditional society; the characters in all three authors’ works are outcasts, pushed to the fringes of their communities or their families because of who they are. Sometimes these characters’ desire to be different is intentional; other times it is not. Each author has succeeded in altering the traditional roles of men and women, and has shown how relationships are often marred by dominant men. They have each maintained a writing style that is inherently Gothic in nature, but they have also altered the traditional genre’s elements just enough so as to create a new sub-genre which would become known as Southern Gothic. This study will ultimately show how McCullers, Williams and O’Connor essentially – and perhaps unintentionally – created something new for American literature which has now become one of the most fascinating and widely-studied genres in the American literary canon.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Year dc:date.available

2012

Author dc:creator

• Koehler, Sarah N.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Christopher T. White, Ph.D.
• Rosemary Johnsen, Ph.D.
• Robin Thompson, M.A.

• American Literature
• Literature in English, North America

Repository record dc:identifier

https://opus.govst.edu/theses/11

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:opus.govst.edu:theses-1012