资源描述：
《Open secrets literature education and authority.pdf》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在学术论文-天天文库。
1、REVIEWS/255statussothat“home”becomesaplacethatprecludeshumaninteractionandhinderspersonaldevelopment(112).Inchapterfive,BenertexaminesTheHouseofMirth’saswellasTheReef’sdeploymentsofthegenderedandclass-inscribednature-culturedivide.Hereshesuccessfullyarguesthatmalecharacters’attemptstoretr
2、eatintonaturereflectWharton’s“deepskepticismaboutromanticideology”asasystemthatupholds,ratherthantranscends,confiningsocialconventionsofgenderandclass(165).ForWharton,the“nature”thatcharacterssuchasGeorgeDarrowcontrasttotheartificialcultureassociatedwithwell-to-dowomenisitselfaconstruct,“
3、both‘nature’and‘culture’”being“creationsofthedominantelite”(143).Womencharactersthereforeactas“realistcorrectives”makingplainthat,forWharton,“thenaturalworldrequiredconscioushumanization,acculturation,tobecomeameaningfulpartofhumanlife”(143,165).ThenextchapteronWharton’sattitudestowardFra
4、ncepositsthat“Frenchstructuresthathadevolvedfromiconsofhighidealstoemblemsofacomplex,morallyambiguousculture”inWharton’spre-warworksbecome,inthewaryears,“moresimply,thepiousremnantsandreplicationsofFranceasanabstractandeternalideal”(175).Thisflatteningoutofmoralambiguities,mademanifestinA
5、SonattheFront,marksforBenertthebeginningoftheendofWharton’sengagementswitharchitecture.Likeothercriticswhoseelittlevalueintheauthor’slaterworks,BenertpositionsTheAgeofInnocenceasWharton’slastattempttodealseriouslywith“hardactualities,”botharchitecturalandsocial(186).Forinallsubsequentwork
6、s,“structuresandspacesbecomepsychologicalormetaphorical,suchpowerastheypossessemanatingfromthecharacters,ratherthanfromanysocietythatmighthavemadeandmanagedthem,”asBenertassertsinherfinalchapteronlatenovelssuchasTwilightSleepandHudsonRoverBracketed.WhateverchangeAgemarksinthequalityofWhar
7、ton’sfictionorinthefunctionsstructuresandspacesserveinthatfiction,Benert’sdismissalofthisperiodofWharton’scareerconstitutesamissedopportunitytomakeasignificantcontributiontoWhartonscholarship.ForTwilightSleepandHudsonRiverBracketed–thelatternamed,afterall,foranarchi
