Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Bachelor of Arts in English
Advisor
James Tackach, Ph.D.
Abstract
This thesis examines the historical background of the roles and expectations of the "proper" American woman in the period before and during the 1950s by analyzing female characters in Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar (1963) and Richard Yates’ Revolutionary Road (1961). Esther Greenwood and April Wheeler struggle with the pressure to remain true to their identities, despite being suffocated by cultural expectations. Their quest for freedom exacts a cost that helps to define American cultural expectations of femininity during this era.
Recommended Citation
Berkley, Heather, "The “Two-Headed Schizophrenic”: A Cultural Constraint Feminist Critique of Esther Greenwood and April Wheeler" (2011). English Theses. 50.
https://docs.rwu.edu/english_theses/50
