5. Jennie One-Note: Dreiser's Error in Character Development

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Introduction vii
4. PART I. General Assessments
5. 1. Janus-Faced Jennie 3
6. 2. The Biographical Significance of Jennie Gerhardt 9
7. 3. Jennie Gerkardt: Naturalism Reconsidered 17
8. 4. Chill History and Rueful Sentiments in Jennie Gerhardt 27
9. 5. Jennie One-Note: Dreiser's Error in Character Development 43
10. 6. Dreiser's Ideal of Balance 51
11. 7. Triangulating Desire in Jennie Gerhardt 63
12. PART II. Critical and Historical Contexts
13. 8 Jennie Gerkardt: A Spencerian Tragedy 77
14. 9. Jennie Through the Eyes of Thorstein Veblen 91
15. 10. Labor and Capital in Jennie Gerhardt 103
16. 11. Dreiser and the Genteel Tradition 115
17. 12. "Housework Is Never Done": Domestic Labor in Jennie Gerhardt 127
18. 13. Self-Sacrifice and Shame in Jennie Gerkardt 136
19. 14. Jennie, Maggie, and the City 147
20. 15. Jennie Gerhardt and the Dream of the Pastoral 157
21. 16. How German Is Jennie Gerkardt? 167
22. 17. Samuel E. [G]ross: Dreiser's Real Estate Magnate 183
23. 18. The Hotel World in Jennie Gerhardt 194
24. 19. Death and Dying in Jennie Gerkardt 208
25. Checklist: Criticism of the 1911 Text 219
26. Contributors 221
27. Index 223
28. Backmatter 227