This research report compares and contrasts Wharton's House of Mirth and Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Various issues such as gender, class and race are discussed. This seven page paper has three sources listed in the bibliography.
Name of Research Paper File: RT13_SA223gen.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
the case--by and large, the society is divided into male and female categories. Femininity and masculinity was much more apparent in earlier days and in going back to the turn
of the twentieth century, one can see that this is clearly true. It was a time when men were men and women were ladies, and some reminisce as if it
were a better time. Others look back in history and contend that women have come a long way and today, women are far better off than they were decades ago.
In delving back in time, one can say that things have changed, but what many people overlook are the cultural and regional differences in terms of experience. For example, women
of the South were generally more feminine, and stayed out of the workforce longer, whereas women in urban areas were much more likely to join the workforce. Clearly, experiences through
the ages have been different also dependent on socioeconomic background, race and ethnicity. Today, while women work just as do men in general, things are different for the rich. In
the upper echelons of society, women only do charity work. The men may be involved in a family business perhaps, but by and large, the wealthy is a class of
leisure. This upper class mentality is expressed in Whartons (2000) House of Mirth. The novel takes place at the turn of the century, primarily in New York. Lily Bart
is from money but it seems as if it is dwindling. For the most part, this woman of high society is losing her fortune, and she is also still single.
Being single for too long it seems is not very good and when she has to take a job, it is embarrassing. At the same time, she is a strong