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Article: Willa Cather's Sapphira and the Slave Girl: extending the boundaries of the body. (novel about an aging master who plotted the ruin of a slave girl who works for her)
- Article from:
- College Literature
- Article date:
- June 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 West Chester University. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Willa Cather's powerful final novel Sapphira and the Slave Girl (1940) remains read and in print, despite being subject to periods of critical neglect, followed by intermittent attempts to redefine its essence and purpose in Cather's canon.(2) A vivid evocation of the ante-bellum Tidewater area of Virginia, Sapphira and the Slave Girl has been described variously as "A Winter's Tale," a gothic tale, and a clever subversion of readers' expectations.(3) The novel elicits vigorous responses on the part of readers and critics one hundred and fifty years after its action takes place, and more than half a century after its publication. It also provokes harshly critical responses ...