This dissertation examines the portrayal of autonomous girlhood in five young-adult (YA) novels that appropriate Shakespearean plots for twenty-first-century girl audiences: Caryl Cude
Mullin's Rough Magic (2009), Lisa Klein's Lady Macbeth's Daughter and Ophelia (2009 and 2008), Lisa Fiedler's Romeo's Ex: Rosaline's Story (2006), and Mirjam Pressler's Shylock's Daughter
(2001). It postulates that these novels are the postfeminist extension of a much earlier subgeneric trend--that of mass-produced, affordable Victorian-era didactic Shakespeares, the central
purpose of which is to use Shakespeare's cultural capital in order to transmit messages regarding the nature of appropriate girlhood. This dissertation argues that that some analogously
available and affordable YA novel adaptations of the twenty-first century, despite being postcolonial and postfeminist and therefore reacting against the squeaky-clean, traditional norms of
their predecessors, put forward gender roles that are just as restrictive. Each chapter will cover one of Shakespeare's plays, a corresponding YA novel adaptation, and a related issue in
contemporary American girl culture and/or feminist theory. The ultimate goals of such a transhistorical analysis are first: to determine what type(s) of girlhood the novels put forth as valid
and why, and second: to evaluate the novels' brand(s) of didacticism in terms of what it offers to its target audience of adolescent girls. Overall, this dissertation argues that successful
YA Shakespeares for girls should exhibit nuanced characterization and developed female community, ideally one that results in intergenerational feminisms. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2014. / October 27, 2014. / feminism, girlhood, Shakespeare, young-adult / Includes bibliographical references. / Celia R. Caputi Daileader, Professor Directing Dissertation; Aimée Boutin, University Representative; A. E. B. Coldiron, Committee Member; Margaret
(Meegan) Kennedy Hanson, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_253401 |
| Contributors | Farmer, Victoria R. (authoraut), Daileader, Celia R. (professor directing dissertation), Boutin, Aimée, 1970- (university representative), Coldiron, A. E. B. (Anne Elizabeth Banks) (committee member), Hanson, H. P. (Howard P.) (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college), Department of English (degree granting department) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource (170 pages), computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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