Artistic Representation Of Womanhood And Morality In The Novel “Jennie Gerhardt” By Theodore Dreiser
Keywords:
female protagonist, gender expectation, oppressionAbstract
This article explores the artistic representation of womanhood and morality in Theodore Dreiser’s novel Jennie Gerhardt (1911). Through the lens of literary realism and naturalism, Dreiser portrays the female protagonist not merely as a victim of social circumstances but as a complex individual shaped by socioeconomic limitations, moral dilemmas, and emotional resilience. The article examines how Dreiser’s narrative choices, character construction, and thematic elements reflect his critique of societal norms and gender expectations. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of early 20th-century American literature’s engagement with issues of female identity, morality, and artistic forma
References
Dreiser, T. (1911). Jennie Gerhardt. Harper & Brothers.
Pizer, D. (1990). The Novels of Theodore Dreiser: A Critical Revaluation. Charles Scribner’s Sons.
Kaplan, A. (1987). The Social Construction of American Realism. University of Chicago Press.
Cassuto, L. (2001). The Inhuman Race: The Racial Grotesque in American Literature and Culture.
Columbia University Press.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
User Rights
Under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC-BY-NC), the author (s) and users are free to share (copy, distribute and transmit the contribution).
Rights of Authors
Authors retain the following rights:
1. Copyright and other proprietary rights relating to the article, such as patent rights,
2. the right to use the substance of the article in future works, including lectures and books,
3. the right to reproduce the article for own purposes, provided the copies are not offered for sale,
4. the right to self-archive the article.
