Spinster tales and womanly possibilities
By: Naomi Braun Rosenthal.
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Albany
Language: eng
Number of pages: 186
Subjects: American fiction -- History and criticism; Women and literature -- United States -- History; Feminist fiction, American -- History and criticism; Single women in literature; Women in motion pictures; Single women -- Fiction
Genres: Fiction.
Description: "The spinster, once a ubiquitous figure in American popular culture, has all but vanished from the scene. Intrigued by the fact that her disappearance seems to have gone unnoticed, Naomi Braun Rosenthal traces the spinter's life and demise by using stories from the Ladies' Home Journal (from 1890, 1913, and 1933), along with Hollywood films from the 1940s and 1950s, such as It's a Wonderful Life; Now, Voyager; and Summertime, among others.

Originally invoked as a symbol of female independence a hundred years ago, when marriage and career were considered to be incompatible choices for women, spinsterhood was advocated as an alternate path by some and viewed as a threat to family life by others. Today, there are few traces of the spinster's existence - the options open to women have dramatically changed - but we continue to grapple with concerns about women's desires and "the future of the family.""--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 171-176) and index.
"Filmography" : p. 177.