Date of Award
Summer 8-2011
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Program
English
Department
English
Major Professor
Boyd-Rioux, Anne
Second Advisor
Malmgren, Carl
Third Advisor
Lackey, Kris
Abstract
This thesis argues that Isabel Archer of Henry James’s novel The Portrait of a Lady and Lily Bart of Edith Wharton’s novel The House of Mirth were nineteenth-century characters struggling to assert their social and sexual independence in a male dominated society. Although Isabel inherits a fortune that allegedly enables her to have more autonomy than Lily, both characters are negatively affected by their inability to conceive of their lives outside of social convention.
Recommended Citation
Braden, Heidi Elizabeth, "Lily Bart and Isabel Archer: Women Free to Choose Lifestyles or Victims of Fate?" (2011). University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations. 453.
https://scholarworks.uno.edu/td/453
Rights
The University of New Orleans and its agents retain the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible this dissertation or thesis in whole or part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The author retains all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis or dissertation.