English, Department of
First Advisor
Melissa J. Homestead
Date of this Version
5-2017
Abstract
Willa Cather’s Southwestern novels feature cultured male protagonists as the driving sources of action. The male characters explore the natural world and advance the plot, but Cather positions female figures, particularly spinster figures, on the sidelines of the protagonists’ plots to offer support and connection with the natural world. Using an ethic of care framework and ecofeminist Val Plumwood’s master model, this thesis examines the ways in which Cather marginalizes female figures even as they serve crucial roles in the male protagonists’ development. While the male protagonists link spinster figures and sexualized feminine bodies with the natural world, they imbue the natural world with feminized characteristics. In this way, Cather’s male protagonists reify the connection between women and nature that is used to dismiss and denigrate the autonomy of the natural world and women.
Adviser: Melissa J. Homestead
Comments
A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree Master of Arts, Major: English, Under the Supervision of Professor Melissa J. Homestead, Lincoln, Nebraska: May, 2017
Copyright (c) 2017 Jeannette E. Schollaert