Abstract
The thesis examines the postwar author Richard Yates and his novel Revolutionary Road in relation to gender roles, suburbia and the American family. My aim is for Richard Yates to be acknowledged as an author who can offer great insights into both the political, socio- historical and literary landscape of the 1950s, and particularly the struggles of restrictive gender roles within a suburban context.
The first chapter revolves around gender roles and masculinity issues in Revolutionary Road and April Wheeler’s lack of an authentic voice as a 1950s housewife, whereas the second chapter examines the abortion metaphors Yates’ are drawing in order to highlight the metaphorical death of the American Dream. The final chapter places the novel in dialogue with two other suburban narratives, that is, Rick Moody’s The Ice Storm (a retrospective account of the 1970s) and Tom Perrotta’s Little Children.
The most important aspect of the thesis is to apply an interdisciplinary approach as a means of understanding literature from the 1950s, drawing on socio- historical sources.
The thesis examines the postwar author Richard Yates and his novel Revolutionary Road in relation to gender roles, suburbia and the American family. My aim is for Richard Yates to be acknowledged as an author who can offer great insights into both the political, socio- historical and literary landscape of the 1950s, and particularly the struggles of restrictive gender roles within a suburban context.
The first chapter revolves around gender roles and masculinity issues in Revolutionary Road and April Wheeler’s lack of an authentic voice as a 1950s housewife, whereas the second chapter examines the abortion metaphors Yates’ are drawing in order to highlight the metaphorical death of the American Dream. The final chapter places the novel in dialogue with two other suburban narratives, that is, Rick Moody’s The Ice Storm (a retrospective account of the 1970s) and Tom Perrotta’s Little Children.
The most important aspect of the thesis is to apply an interdisciplinary approach as a means of understanding literature from the 1950s, drawing on socio- historical sources.