Título: Augusta Jane Evans
Seção: Critical response
Background: Augusta Jane Evans, or Augusta Evans Wilson (May 8, 1835 - May 9, 1909), was an American author of Southern literature. She was the first woman to earn US$100,000 through her writing. Wilson was a native of Columbus, Georgia, and her first book, Inez, a Tale of the Alamo, was written when she was still young.

Conteúdo: Augusta Evans Wilson was not a professional writer and her style was severely criticized as "pedantic." She wrote in the domestic, sentimental style of the Victorian Age. Critics have praised the intellectual competence of her female characters, but as her heroes eventually succumb to traditional values, Wilson has been described as an antifeminist. Of St. Elmo one critic maintained, "the trouble with the heroine of St. Elmo was that she swallowed an unabridged dictionary." Wilson was the first American woman author to earn over $100,000. This would be a record unsurpassed until Edith Wharton.  Macaria, or Altars of Sacrifice, published in 1864, was popular with Southerners and Northerners alike. Melissa Homestead writes that the transportation of the novel to New York was deliberate, done in installments and nearly simultaneous with the novel's preparation for publication in the South. Thus, while previous critics, scholars and biographers have all treated Macaria's appearance in the North as unauthorized, the truth is much more meaningful. Some scholars say that by dispensing with the romantic notion that the novel appeared in a "bootleg" edition, Homestead debunks the hard and fast distinction between Northern and Southern readerships as an invention of historians and critics rather than an accurate reflection of reading practices of the period. However, a great number of discrepancies exist between the version published in the North and the version published in the South,

user: what was the response to her work?

assistant: her style was severely criticized as "pedantic.

user: why was it criticized so?

assistant: Critics have praised the intellectual competence of her female characters, but as her heroes eventually succumb to traditional values,

user: what values did they succumb to?

assistant: Wilson has been described as an antifeminist. Of St. Elmo one critic maintained, "the trouble with the heroine of St. Elmo was that she swallowed an unabridged dictionary."

user: what books did she write?

assistant: Macaria, or Altars of Sacrifice, published in 1864,

user: was this book popular?

assistant: Thus, while previous critics, scholars and biographers have all treated Macaria's appearance in the North as unauthorized, the truth is much more meaningful.

user: what else is interesting about her?

assistant: Her novel St. Elmo was her most famous and it was frequently adapted for both the stage and screen.

user: what was the book about?

assistant: The book's heroine, Edna Earl, became the namesake of Eudora Welty's heroine (Edna Earle Ponder) in The Ponder

user: when was it published?

assistant: 1954.

user: did she get any awards?

assistant: CANNOTANSWER

user: what was her biggest achievement?

assistant: Wilson was the first American woman author to earn over $100,000. This would be a record unsurpassed until Edith Wharton.