Suchergebnisse

This essay examines a representative sample of the substantial body of writing which emerged from Chicago's 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. This compelling literary legacy is one aspect of that otherwise widely studied event that has so far received only scant critical attention. It is the author's belief that through a close reading of these texts we can gain precious insights into a defining moment of the American experience, one that signaled the emergence of the United States as a major player on the international stage. The writers under consideration – ranging from canonical (William Dean Howells), to popular (Frances Hodgson Burnett), minor (Julian Hawthorne), and forgotten (Clara Louise Burnham) – had recourse to different literary genres, approaches, and registers to recreate, and comment on, the ways in which the United States presented itself to the world and how it interacted with, and responded to, the foreign delegations participating in the exposition. Although varying greatly from one another in terms of style, scope, and ambition, these works all testify quite eloquently to the significance of the Columbian Exposition as an occasion for national soul-searching and identity construction. They are illuminating interpretations of a crucial phase in American history, one marked by unresolved racial tension (the dark heritage of the Civil War) and massive foreign immigration, when the United States was endeavoring to come to terms with its new role as a political, economic, and cultural power.

Domestic themes made their appearance in English literature during the 16th and the 17th Centuries as a result of a cultural campaign that identified family and State. Marriage, being considered the foundation of the family, was at the core of the political, ecclesiastical and cultural projects of the time. Several plays reflect the widespread concern for the interrelation between family life and the preservation of social order and stability. In such a context, Middleton's play is of particular interest, as both the main plot and the subplot focus on stories of degradation and mockery of the institution of marriage. In "Women Beware Women", Middleton presents a family without paternal guidance that is at the mercy of the threatening external world, and emphasises the childish behaviour of both Leantio and Bianca, their disarming blindness (which foretells the tragic epilogue), and Leantio's mother realistic concerns.