Solitary Souls: Awakening Responses in American Literature

To develop their inner lives, American fictional characters like Melville's Ishmael, Twain's Huck Finn, and Chopin's Edna Pontellier strive to see themselves accurately in relation to others and to American society in general. During this process of self-definition, these characters frequently experience an awakening, an epiphany that encourages them to alter permanently their attitudes or behavior. How American characters react to their awakening is the subject of this dissertation. This study's specific concern is with the limited number of awakening response types found in American literature and film and the degree to which the awakened characters exhibit the ability and/or willingness to change their relationships with others.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Karle, Katherine Arvilla

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hendrick, George

• Literature, American

Identifier

(UMI)AAI9411666

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/72045