A New Species of Girl: The Female Bildungsroman in Jacqueline Kelly's The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

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Abstract

Jacqueline Kelly's historical novel,  The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate  (2009), interrogates whether a young girl in 1899 can pursue science, despite the gender restrictions placed on her by society. This article explores how  Calpurnia  both follows and usurps the gender expectations of turn-of-the-century, American girls' literature, namely that the girls'  bildungsromane  usually ends in marriage instead of a scientific career. Because  Calpurnia  ends before the heroine is grown, the novel has unresolved tension, making its gender ideology opaque.
Original languageAmerican English
JournalChildren's Literature Association Quarterly
Volume46
StatePublished - 2021

Keywords

  • girls' literature
  • bildungsroman
  • girls in STEM
  • historical fiction

Disciplines

  • English Language and Literature
  • Children's and Young Adult Literature

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