Vigilante Women in Contemporary American Fiction (American Literature Readings in the 21st Century)

"Graham-Bertolini provides the first analysis of vigilante women in contemporary American fiction. She develops a dynamic model of vigilante heroines using literary and feminist theory and applies it to important texts, including those by Flagg, Glaspell, Hong-Kington, Hurston, Rawlings, Walker, and more. This analysis broadens our understanding of how law and culture infringe upon women's rights"-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Introduction 9 Terminology 18 Conclusions 23 Chapter One Great Vengeance and Furious Anger: The Female Avenger 25 Zora Neale Husrton’s “Sweat” (1926) 29 Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’s “Gal Young ‘Un” (1932) 40 Shirley Ann Grau’s The Keepers of the House (1964) 47 Conclusions 59 Chapter Two Women Warriors and Women with Weapons 62 Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior: Memories Of A Girlhood Among Ghosts (1975) 68 Rita Mae Brown’s High Hearts (1986) 80 William Faulkner’s Warrior Woman In The Unvanquished (1934) 87 Conclusions 97 Chapter Three The Woman Who Snaps, The Woman Who Kills 99 Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987) 104 Bharati Mukherjee’s Wife (1975): Rewriting The Marriage/Adultery Plot 108 Susan Glaspell’s “A Jury Of Her Peers” (1917) 120 Alice Walker’s “How Did I Get Away With Killing One Of The Biggest Lawyers In The State? It Was Easy” (1982) 126 Conclusions 131 Chapter Four The Female Bandit/Outlaw 134 June Arnold’s Sister Gin (1975) 137 Fannie Flagg’s Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café (1987) 149 William Faulkner’s Female Bandit in the Unvanquished (1934) 159 Conclusions 165 Conclusions 167 Notes 175 Works Cited 180 Index 187 Front Matter....Pages i-vii Introduction....Pages 1-16 Great Vengeance and Furious Anger: The Female Avenger....Pages 17-53 Women Warriors and Women with Weapons....Pages 55-91 The Woman Who Snaps, The Woman Who Kills....Pages 93-127 The Female Bandit/Outlaw....Pages 129-161 Conclusions....Pages 163-170 Back Matter....Pages 171-193 Graham-Bertolini provides the first analysis of vigilante women in contemporary American fiction. By developing a dynamic model of vigilante heroines using literary and feminist theory and applying it to important texts, this analysis broadens our understanding of how law and culture infringe upon women's rights