University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Tragic Race in The Prince of Darkness: Southworth's Call for Social Change

MacDonald, Caitlin

Content Files
Tragic Race in The Prince of Darkness Southworth's Call for Social Change.pdf

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/55439

Description

Title
Tragic Race in The Prince of Darkness: Southworth's Call for Social Change
Author(s)
MacDonald, Caitlin
Issue Date
2014
Keyword(s)
  • antislavery
  • class
  • nineteenth century
  • Prince of Darkness
  • race
  • serialized novel
  • Southworth
Date of Ingest
2014-10-21T14:44:21Z
Abstract
This essay analyzes popular nineteenth century female novelist E.D.E.N. Southworth’s 1890 novel Hickory Hall or The Outcast: A Romance of the Blue Ridge, which is also referred to as The Prince of Darkness, in terms of race and class relations. As a contemporary of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Southworth attempts to navigate the racial and political tensions of her pre-Civil War era society in her serialized novel. This essay employs close readings of character descriptions, interactions, and instances of moral insanity, to examine Southworth’s antislavery perspective. It will also demonstrate the political engagement of an important author whom many wrongfully perceived as simplistic and frivolous because of the serialized medium of her narratives. This essay will formulate the argument that Southworth advocates for necessary social change and, through the tragic consequences of the antiquated racial relations exhibited by her characters, cautions her readers against the inevitable decline of society should the status quo remain unexamined. The research conducted here draws upon the primary source of the novel as well as scholarly articles by Dale Bauer, Julia Deane Freeman, Eric Lott, and Vicki Martin to support its claims.
Publisher
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign English Department
Type of Resource
text
Genre of Resource
Article
Language
eng
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/55439
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2014 Caitlin MacDonald

Owning Collections

Re:Search - Vol. 1, no. 1 2014 PRIMARY