The Virginian Summary
Owen Wister

Everything you need to understand or teach The Virginian by Owen Wister.

The Virginian Summary & Study Guide

The Virginian Summary

In response to advance criticism which charged that the novel was "episodic and fragmentary," Wister was prompted to change The Virginian's subtitle from A Tale of Sundry Adventures to A Horseman of the Plains. Perhaps this reflected an attempt on Wister's part to focus the reader's attention on the unifying theme of the novel, which appears to be the development of the character of the "horseman," the Virginian himself. According to Wister, he...

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The Virginian Short Guide

Characters

Social Concerns

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Owen Wister Biographies (3)

Owen Wister

3,505 words, approx. 12 pages

Owen Wister is most often thought of, not inappropriately, as a writer about the American West. Indeed, his stories and books were extremely important in establishing in the 1890s and early twentieth ... Read more

Owen Wister

4,896 words, approx. 17 pages

Although best known for The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains (1902), a novel often credited--if inaccurately--with being "the first Western," Owen Wister was in talent and predilection perhaps mo... Read more

Owen Wister

4,544 words, approx. 16 pages

The importance of Owen Wister to the literature of the American West--and, by extension, to the development of American literature in the twentieth century--cannot be overstated. The Virginian: A Hors... Read more

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The Virginian SummaryOwen Wister