ENG 2140 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: True Life, Aristocracy, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: English
• Course: ENG 2140
• Professor: Marc Hewson

Document Summary

West of/as eden: the mythic old west in the virginian. He is insisting that this is western. It doesn"t set up as a typical western. Wister wants to highlight the difference between east and west. Molly"s eastern background vs the virginian"s west-ness. Directionality is so important in this book. The movement from south to north: not regarding the genre, but for the identity of the hero. The south/north dichotomy is just as important (maybe even more important) than the east/west dichotomy. Wister was one of the most pedigreed authors: very wealthy family, friends with and went to harvard with roosevelt, his whole life has a golden spoon in his mouth. His wealth was reflected in his portrayal: not as gritty. Considered the first real western novel: beginning of all the typical western tropes. He was told that he needed to toughen up and become a man". So they were told to go out west.