제한된 여성의 위치와 전복적 스토리텔링을 통한 치유 효과 - 이디쓰 워튼의 「뒤늦은 연인들」, 「나머지 둘」을 중심으로 -

초록

Edith Wharton wrote to explore the socially prescribed woman’s statusin her time, and through her fictional work, attempted to provide aresolution to the problems embedded in woman’s life. This paper examineshow Wharton grapples with the issue of marriage institution by creatingadaptive and resilient female characters in her short stories, “The OtherTwo” and “Souls Belated.” In “Souls Belated,” Lydia attempts to overcomesocial prejudices about the divorced woman by leaving with anotherman. In “The Other Two” Alice does not show any sense of defeat orfrustration even after she has undergone two divorces and three marriages,but she rather manages to take effective advantage of the state of beingmarried. Wharton’s subversive storytelling in these stories serves tocriticize the restrictions imposed on women by the marriage institution. Wharton’s writing thus becomes a self-healing act to cope with herunhappy marriage life and the male-oriented social conventions, whichopens a possibility of giving readers an opportunity to experience catharsisand problem-solving ability.

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