Entangled commitments: The life and writings of Caroline Gilman
Abstract
The purpose of this dissertation is to demonstrate that Caroline Gilman's work was encouraged in the beginning by a family culture which valued literary arts and praised her skill as a writer, and that it is best understood not through feminist paradigms but rather as a manifestation of her commitment to nineteenth century Unitarian ideas concerning the improvability of humankind (in contrast to the Calvinist doctrine of innate depravity) and the usefulness of aesthetics (literature and the arts) as a vehicle for that improvement. She was also encouraged by a husband who, as a Unitarian minister, supported her work as an editor of children's magazines. They believed salvation came to human souls not through soteriology but through shaping the moral character of each individual child. Living in the Deep South at the time of the Civil War, and being a slaveholder herself, makes Gilman suspect to some, but she felt that she had an obligation to fulfill to the black race.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
May, Purdue University.
Subject Area
American literature|American studies|Biographies
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