Date of Award
4-23-1998
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
English
First Advisor
Martha E. Cook, Ph.D.
Second Advisor
Susan Campbell Anderson, Ph.D.
Third Advisor
Massie C. Stinson, Ph.D.
Abstract
The thesis examines the perspectives on history in New Orleans ' women in William Faulkner 's Absalom, Absalom and Anne Rice's The Feast of All Saints. This thesis looks at historical sources, the most detailed and unbiased of which have been written within the last twenty-five years. The information is then applied to the works of Faulkner and Rice. The thesis concludes that both of the writes provide portrayals which serve their own purposes. Faulkner’s image of the world is vivid, but, it is still only an image, a picture. Faulkner’s purposes serve only as the symbol of slavery at its worst, of the irredeemable sin or slavery. Rice’s purpose was to pay homage to the free people of color and the society and accomplishments they made in pre-Civil war Louisiana. Therefore, Rice provides a detailed portrayal of these women in all their roles in the community and family and in all their emotional states. Her women of color are well rounded because they were an important part of the world of the free people of color.
Recommended Citation
Ford, Stacey Morgan, "Perspectives on History: New Orleans's Women in William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom! and Anne Rice's The Feast of All Saints" (1998). Theses & Honors Papers. 213.
https://digitalcommons.longwood.edu/etd/213
