SOURCE: Ridgely, J. V. “The Southern Romance: The Matter of Virginia” and “The Southern Way of Life: The 1830s and '40s.” In Nineteenth-Century Southern Literature, pp. 32-49, 50-61. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 1980.
In the following excerpt, Ridgely observes myth-making qualities in the novels of the Old South—romantic works that elaborate themes of Southern uniqueness, manifest destiny, and separatism.
This is a free excerpt of 60 words. There are 9,481 words (approx.
32 pages at 300 words per page) in the full critical essay.
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