Bookish Women: Examining the Textual and Embodied Construction of Scholarly and Literary Women in American Musicals
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BOOKISH WOMEN: EXAMINING THE TEXTUAL AND EMBODIED CONSTRUCTION OF SCHOLARLY AND LITERARY WOMEN IN AMERICAN MUSICALS Rebecca K. Hammonds A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2019 Committee: Michael Ellison, Advisor Andrew Pelletier Graduate Faculty Representative Angela Ahlgren Cynthia Baron © 2019 Rebecca K. Hammonds All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT Michael Ellison, Advisor Scholarly and literary women are some of the most beloved characters on the musical stage, yet the importance of these character’s intelligence and creativity has received virtually no scholarly attention. In this study I seek to understand how intelligent and creative heroines are constructed in American musicals and whether they are empowered feminist role models. Relying on an understanding of women’s intellectual history and the slow and inconsistent growth of women’s broader acceptance as intellectual and creative experts, I strongly suggest that the reading, writing, teaching, and studying activities of bookish female characters in musicals offer us an opportunity to speak back to and re-envision our feminist and intellectual histories and oppressions. Furthermore, I argue that the musical form is uniquely suited to the representation of bookish women who empower themselves and others through their bookish activities. When bookish women are able to reveal their intellectual and creative inner life, we see more clearly how they exhibit attitudes and action whereby they claim power themselves and others. Seven traits common in the construction of bookish women in musicals are also identified and deployed. These traits make legible the empowering use and effect of bookishness in the character’s personality and experience. These include 1) their adaptation from film and literature sources; 2) their heroine journeys of development or becoming (sometimes referred to as a bildungsroman(e); 3) their experience of marginalization in their community and/or expression of feelings of marginalization that are sometimes due to, or exacerbated by, their bookishness; 4) experience of prolonged singleness or expectations of prolonged singleness; 5) their comparison with non-bookish women; 6) their significant father/daughter relationships, iv often because of the absence of a mother; 7) and their resistance to racialized and gendered stereotypes. Using a variety of theoretical lenses, I examined the following bookish characters: Jean Webster (Daddy Long Legs, 2015), Matilda Wormwood (Matilda 2013), Katherine Plummer (Newsies, 2012), Elphaba (Wicked, 2004), Nina Rosario (In the Heights, 2008), Elle Woods (Legally Blonde, 2007), and Nettie (The Color Purple, 2005). v To my amazingly supportive friends and family vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would not be here without the support of so many people, but I will begin with my committee. My dissertation advisor, Dr. Michael Ellison, has understood me and guided my thinking and work in a way that has been both rigorous and lifegiving. His generosity of spirit has always encouraged me to think deeper and to clarify so that my voice and thoughts are communicated clearly. I am also supremely grateful for the support of Dr. Angela Ahlgren. She has served as a mentor since my first year at Bowling Green State University and I always trust her to guide my thinking about how to effectively navigate the world of academe. Dr. Cynthia Baron, likewise, inspires my work and thinking by driving me to think specifically about how I am building my argument, and also how my research functions more broadly within my life and career. Her humility and passion have been an encouragement to me as a scholar and a teacher. Dr. Andrew Pelletier, from the School of Music, has a blessing to me. His experience and insight into my project have been invaluable. I have enjoyed having a fourth member who can speak so specifically to my research area! I am also extraordinarily grateful to my school and church friends here in Bowling Green, Ohio. Dr. Quincy Thomas and Dr. Macaela Carder Whitaker have been incredible mentors as I have walked this path. My fellow graduate students showed tremendous restraint every time I would point out a connection between any subject and “bookish women.” As I wrestled with these concepts, and the construction of my argument, they have been supportive and encouraging. I am likewise appreciative of my Bowling Green Covenant Church family who have taken time to ask love me and invest in my life, providing me with a supportive family when mine lives so far away. I thank the Lord for you! vii Special thanks to Bob Maness and the California Regional Theatre community. It was there that I fell in love with musical theatre dramaturgy, and I will always be grateful for the time I spent there. Also, to my grandparents Jack and Mitzi Hammonds and David and Shirley Tuman: your support and encouragement over the years, and especially during my time in graduate school, have been so precious to me. To my friend Natasha Cookman, who talked with me, read drafts, and encouraged me from so far away, thank you. Your presence in my life is beyond price. To my parents Tom and Cindy Hammonds and my brothers Tim and Caleb Hammonds, thank you for your support and encouragement over all these years. This “bookish woman” would not be here without you. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 Special Terms and Definitions ................................................................................... 3 Bookish Women............................................................................................. 3 Intertextual/Intersectional .............................................................................. 3 Empowerment Through Reading, Writing, Teaching, and Studying ............ 3 Theories and Methodologies ...................................................................................... 7 Multicase Study ............................................................................................. 7 Feminism and Women’s Intellectual History ................................................ 9 Musical Theatre ............................................................................................. 12 Limitations and Parameters....................................................................................... 14 Chapter Summaries .................................................................................................... 15 CHAPTER I: “THE OLDEST ORPHAN IN THE JOHN GRIER HOME”: ADAPTING THE BOOKISH WOMAN IN DADDY LONG LEGS (2015) ....................................................... 17 Seven Common Traits................................................................................................ 18 Adapted from Literature and/or Film ............................................................. 18 Heroine Journeys ........................................................................................... 19 Singleness ...................................................................................................... 21 Father/Daughter Relationships....................................................................... 21 Feelings of Marginalization ........................................................................... 22 Marginalized Romantic Partners .................................................................... 23 Connections with Other Women/Girls........................................................... 24 ix Resisting Stereotype....................................................................................... 24 Adapting Jerusha Abbott for the Musical Theatre Stage ........................................... 25 Jean Webster’s Novel ................................................................................................ 25 John Caird and Paul Gordon’s Musical ..................................................................... 30 Adaptation ...................................................................................................... 30 Heroine Journey of Becoming (Bildungsromane) ......................................... 33 Father/Lover ................................................................................................... 34 Romantic Partner ........................................................................................... 37 “Like Other Girls”: More Than Just a “Spunky” and “Ambitious” Girl in a Syrupy Romantic Comedy ............................................................................ 38 Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 40 CHAPTER II: “SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO BE A LITTLE BIT NAUGHTY”: CONSTRUCTING BOOKISH HEROINISM IN MATILDA (2013) .................................... 41 A Gifted Girl .............................................................................................................. 41 Girls and Heroism ...................................................................................................... 42 Girl Studies and Using Books to Construct Gender Identity and Action ...... 42 The “Mythic Journey” Hero(ine) and the “Journey of Becoming/Development” Hero(ine) ........................................................................................................ 43 Matilda Wormwood and Heroic