Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation
5-2017
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
English
Degree Program
English, MA
Committee Chair
Ryan, Susan
Committee Co-Chair (if applicable)
Griffin, Susan
Committee Member
Griffin, Susan
Committee Member
Griffin, Jo Ann
Author's Keywords
irony; periodical; feminism; domesticity; humor
Abstract
This project examines the works of Kesiah Shelton, a writer for popular magazines in the late nineteenth century who used irony in interesting ways to critique the social norms of the period. Although, scholars have noted that female authorship was a an expanding field during this period, there were very specific gendered expectations limiting what female authors wrote about; women were primarily limited to writing about domestic matters and were discouraged from taking up other topics associated with the male public sphere such as politics. Many scholars have noted how the cult of domesticity valorized women as superior moral beings, creating a stark contrast to the patriarchal norms that sought to silence them. Throughout this thesis, I will show how Shelton exploits this collision, juxtaposing these opposing social norms to set up an ironic stage in order to highlight the hypocrisy of traditional gender norms.
Recommended Citation
Rothman, Melissa, "Ironic deference : an inquiry into the nineteenth-century feminist rhetoric of Kesiah Shelton." (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2683.
https://doi.org/10.18297/etd/2683
