Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Bachelor of Arts in English
Advisor
James Tackach, Ph.D.
Abstract
In Richard Yates' Revolutionary Road (1961) April Wheeler reacts against the stereotype of the 1950s American Housewife. Her struggle through the novel is not merely to break free from marriage, but to break free from a lifestyle that required women to be subservient to men. April's desire to escape the housewife prefigures feminist writings of the time period such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique (1963). This thesis examines the way in which April Wheeler completely rejects the standard female stereotypes, while revealing her desire to escape, even if it means dying in the process.
Recommended Citation
Lafata, Anthony, "Revolutionary Road: The Road to Revolutionizing the Female Role in Society" (2011). English Theses. 56.
https://docs.rwu.edu/english_theses/56
