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Textual Editing and Theodore Dreiser's "Jennie Gerhardt". Annemarie Koning Whaley Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College

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Textual Editing and Theodore Dreiser's Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 2000 Silencing Dreiser: Textual Editing and Theodore Dreiser's "Jennie Gerhardt". Annemarie Koning Whaley Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Whaley, Annemarie Koning, "Silencing Dreiser: Textual Editing and Theodore Dreiser's "Jennie Gerhardt"." (2000). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 7237. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/7237 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9“ black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. SILENCING DREISER: TEXTUAL EDITING AND THEODORE DREISER’S JENNIE GERHARDT A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of English by Annemarie Koning Whaley B.A. East Texas Baptist University, 1984 M.A. Louisiana State University in Shreveport, 1991 May 2000 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number 9979301 Copyright 2000 by Whaley, Annemarie Koning All rights reserved. ___ __® UMI UMI Microform9979301 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright 2000 Annemarie Koning Whaley All rights reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Table of Contents Abstract.....................................................................................................................................iv Dreiser’s Literary History and West’sJennie Gerhardt.......................................................1 The Authorial Creation ofJennie Gerhardt........................................................................ 24 Textual Editing and Dreiser’s Framework of Opposition.................................................. 56 Fathers, Daughters, and Cultural Identity.............................................................................76 Business is Business..............................................................................................................101 Mothers, Daughters, and Cultural Identity.........................................................................123 Opposition: Mrs. Kane and Letty Gerald........................................................................... 143 Maternal Matters....................................................................................................................163 Realigning Jennie..................................................................................................................190 Conclusion............................................................................................................................. 224 Works Cited........................................................................................................................... 227 Appendix A: Permission Letter...........................................................................................236 Appendix B: Excerpt taken from: Dreiser, Theodore.Jennie Gerhardt....................... 238 Appendix C: Excerpt taken from: Dreiser, Theodore.Jennie Gerhardt....................... 245 Appendix D: Excerpt taken from: Dreiser, Theodore.Jennie Gerhardt....................... 250 Appendix E: Excerpt taken from: Dreiser, Theodore.Jennie Gerhardt........................253 Vita.........................................................................................................................................260 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Abstract In 1911 Theodore Dreiser published his novelJennie Gerhardt. Prior to publication, the editors at Harper and Brothers cut around 16,000 words from the text. In 1992 James L. West HI, Distinguished Professor of English and Fellow for the Arts and Humanities Studies at Pennsylvania State University, published a restored "Pennsylvania" edition. Scholars are now unsure of which text better represents Dreiser's original artistic vision for the novel. This dissertation closely examines the changes made to the original manuscript and concludes that these changes alter Dreiser's original artistic vision dramatically. Therefore, the 1911 edition is substantially inferior to the Pennsylvania edition. The restored material shows that Dreiser used a variety of genres to describe the different ways man can respond to life and the consequences of those responses. The 1911 edition is, however, flatter and more sentimental. In the restored text, Jennie Gerhardt is a figure from the romance who is consistently loving and sacrificial. Lester Kane, Jennie's love interest, is a mechanistic determinist. In the 1911 text, Jennie's romantic tendencies are muted considerably. As a result, she loses her place as the central character of the novel. In the Pennsylvania edition, Jennie and Lester's relationship is complex and dynamic. In the 1911 edition, cuts made to their relationship make it stereotypically sentimental. The Harper editors also destroyed the sharp distinctions between the Gerhardt family and the Kane family. In the Pennsylvania edition, the Gerhardts' actions are consistent with their ethnic background and their poverty-stricken existence. Cuts made by the Harper editors, however, obscure their ethnicity and the extent of their poverty. iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Mrs. Gerhardt becomes an accomplice in Jennie's downfall and Mr. Gerhardt becomes a religious fanatic. The Kanes were also rewritten. In the Pennsylvania edition, they are so obsessed with wealth, power, and place that they ignore, even exploit, any one who stands in their way. Together with Letty Gerald, they represent all that Dreiser saw wrong with capitalism. In the Harper text, the Kanes’ wealth and their obsession with power are toned down considerably. As a result, the Gerhardts become less sympathetic and the Kanes more sympathetic. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dreiser’s Literary History and West’sJennie Gerhardt In his poem "Theodore Dreiser," Edgar Lee Masters compares Dreiser to a jack- o-lantem because his mouth droops and his eyes are "fixed” and "scarcely sparkling." Underneath his unassuming facade, however, was a mind that could understand deeply and see clearly, a mind that contemplated life as it was and wrote stories so profoundly true that it was as if the reader were sitting "before the sphinx" (37). Although there have always been those like Masters who have appreciated Dreiser's genius, his recognition by the literary community has not always been solid. He enjoyed tremendous success withSister Carrie andAmerican Tragedy, but he had dropped into relative obscurity by his death in 1945. In the last thirty years, however, scholars have reexamined his work, acknowledged his literary accomplishments, and have assured his place in the pantheon of great American writers. Dreiser presents his characters' lives so vividly that it becomes impossible not to be moved by them. In much of his fiction, his characters are so overwhelmed by material forces that they end up
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