Incestuous Wharton: A consideration of the theme

Nineteenth century anthropologists had identified the development of incest taboos as the dividing line between savage and civilized human beings. Sigmund Freud expanded on these early anthropological notions of incest in identifying incestuous desire at the heart of human sexuality; In The Reef and Summer, Wharton toys with these scientific ideas about incest; the radically different way that Summer incorporates incestuous tension echoes Freud's more complex assumptions. In The Reef, Anna Leath upholds social order by rejecting her own sexuality. In refusing to marry Darrow, she takes a stand against the destabilizing forces of incestuous longing but loses her own chance at sexual fulfillment. In Summer, Charity Royall's decision to marry her foster father allows her to create a stable social environment for her child and to participate in a potentially fulfilling adult relationship. Incest can be savage, as it is on the Mountain; it can also be the beginning of sexual maturity. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

1992

Author dc:creator

• McBride, Laura Kathleen

Contributors dc:contributor

• Darlene Unrue

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/177

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-1176