Thomas Nelson Page | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 4 pages of analysis & critique of Thomas Nelson Page.

Thomas Nelson Page | Criticism

This literature criticism consists of approximately 4 pages of analysis & critique of Thomas Nelson Page.
This section contains 1,138 words
(approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by J. V. Ridgely

SOURCE: "The New South: The Past Recaptured," in Nineteenth-Century Literature, University Press of Kentucky, 1980, pp. 89-111.

Ridgely focuses on Page's attempts through literature and lectures to prove the rightness of the Southern Cause.

Page's forte, like [Joel Chandler] Harris's, was the tale told in Negro dialect. However embarrassing (and sometimes difficult to comprehend) such a rendering of dialog may seem to the reader of today, it was vital in giving the ring of "reality" to his favorite characters, the faithful black servants who knew—and would not give up—their places. The wide success of the book suggests how easily his readers could accept the doctrine of paternalism—though, in fact, ex-slaveholders had been shocked by the "uppity" attitudes of their former property.

The opening story of In Ole Virginia, one of the most popular he ever composed, is an epitome of Page's world—and his appeal. The...

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This section contains 1,138 words
(approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page)
Buy the Critical Essay by J. V. Ridgely
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Critical Essay by J. V. Ridgely from Gale. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.