Contextualizing of an Elegy Misinterpreted: A New Historicist Take on "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky"
Date
2-13-2024
Faculty Mentor
Christopher Douglas, English
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Submission Type
Conference Proceeding
Location
1:45-1:55pm | Houston Cole Library, 11th Floor
Description
Literary critics, in analyzing works of literature, can make judgements on texts’ meanings that greatly influence readers’ perceptions. Stephen Crane’s “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky,” (1898), originally published in McClure’s Magazine, is a well-known American short story, yet it is often misinterpreted by such critics. Failing to analyze the text through a New Historicist lens – involving examining the historical period a piece was written in and even the life of the author of a work – many critics have found Crane’s piece to merely be a humorous evaluation of American western life. However, through examining external factors outside of the narrative itself, the piece reveals itself as one that asks readers to mourn the passing of the Old West.
A New Historicist analysis providing often overlooked insight, my presentation, “An Elegy Misinterpreted” reveals how Crane’s work portrays its Western characters as unable to stand in the way of industrial and entrepreneurial change and reflects the historical shift that occurred in the American West. Examining primary and secondary sources regarding the disappearance of the frontier line and growing entrepreneurship in Texas during the late nineteenth-century, my presentation evaluates how such changes effected perceptions of the West and resulted in the creation of a countermyth. Just as vital, I explore how Stephen Crane’s real-life trip westward shaped his ideology and future writings. This examination, using historical truth to interpret a classic piece of American literature, demonstrates the importance of evaluating more than just a text’s narrative.
Keywords
student research, English, literature
Rights
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Disciplines
Modern Literature
Recommended Citation
Rich, Daniel, "Contextualizing of an Elegy Misinterpreted: A New Historicist Take on "The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky"" (2024). JSU Student Symposium 2024. 50.
https://digitalcommons.jsu.edu/ce_jsustudentsymp_2024/50