Sandcastles in the Sand: Liminality at the Seashore in Carolyn Wells's Marjorie at Seacote

<p>The American beach at the turn of the twentieth century became a popular site for middle-class families to escape the urban squalor of the cities and play during the summer months. Although relatively unknown today, Carolyn Wells's 1912 novel <em>Marjorie at Seacote</em> depicts how the beach as a liminal space destabilizes the traditional adult and child roles and creates discomfon and ambivalence over these new roles. I first discuss Carolyn Wells and <em>Marjorie at Seacote</em> in terms of historical context and within the framework of girls' series fiction published at the turn of the century. I then explain how the beach has achieved its liminal status and how that status works to overturn traditional social boundaries, particularly in terms of class and gender. Finally, I discuss how the novel uses the liminal space of the beach to upend these boundaries between classes, work and leisure, and childhood and adulthood and offers a new understanding of the child's and adult's relationship to the seashore.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Year dc:date.available

2013

Author dc:creator

• Bushardt, Olivia Jeanne

Contributors dc:contributor

• Eric Tribunella
• Alexandra Valint
• Martina Sciolino

Repository record dc:identifier

https://aquila.usm.edu/masters_theses/423

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:aquila.usm.edu:masters_theses-1496