Quest for Authority: An Analysis of the Intrusive Author in Uncle Tom's Cabin and The Scarlet Letter
Date of Award
8-1996
Culminating Project Type
Thesis
Degree Name
English: M.A.
Department
English
College
College of Liberal Arts
First Advisor
Judy Foster
Second Advisor
Richard Dillman
Third Advisor
Jerry Wellik
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Keywords and Subject Headings
Stowe, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Hawthorne, Scarlet Letter
Abstract
Both Nathaniel Hawthorne and Harriet Beecher Stowe engaged in a quest for authority by using the third person omniscient point of view with its intrusive author convention in their respective masterpieces, The Scarlet Letter and Uncle Tom's Cabin. Similarities in these authors' backgrounds and in the circumstances and influences prevailing at the time may have precipitated their engagement of this strategy in nearly identical ways and for identical purposes. However, while Hawthorne's use of the strategy has been mostly ignored but sometimes praised as The Scarlet Letter became and remains one of American literature's canonical works, Stowe's use has precipitated harsh criticism. Yet, the influence of Uncle Toms Cabin along with its enduring appeal suggests that Stowe's quest for authority was more successful than Hawthorne's, at least with the popular audience. This and the uneven application of critical criteria in regard to these two novels may indicate a bias in the formulation of America's literary canon.
Recommended Citation
Voth, Irene, "Quest for Authority: An Analysis of the Intrusive Author in Uncle Tom's Cabin and The Scarlet Letter" (1996). Culminating Projects in English. 43.
https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/eng_etds/43
