Kate Chopin, Edith Wharton and Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Studies in Short Fiction

The work of Chopin, Wharton, and Gilman in the short story is more highly esteemed in contemporary critical opinion than ever before. Janet Beer illuminates their congruities as well as their diversity and demonstrates the unique, innovatory contribution that each made to the tradition of the short story.

She looks at the short fiction of all three writers in terms of both genre and theme, ranging between discussions of Chopin's short stories and Wharton's novellas; between Chopin's frankly erotic writing and the homilies in which Gilman warns of the dangers of the sexually transmitted disease. Other issues addressed are ethnicity in the work of Chopin, Wharton's New England stories, Gilman's innovative use of genre and "The Yellow Wallpaper" on film.

Separate aspects of the individual writers are explored, concentrating closely on subject and style and engaging in detailed readings of a range of texts. This is the first time these writers have been compared in depth in one volume.