Overtones of Opera in American Literature from Whitman to Wharton

177 Pages·2010·2.31 MB·English

by  Carmen Trammell Skaggs

Overtones of Opera in
American Literature from
Whitman to Wharton
YZ
Carmen Trammell Skaggs
YZZYZYZYZYZYZZYZYZYZ
Overtones of Opera in
American Literature from
Whitman to Wharton
SkaggsOVERTONES_text.indd 1 10/15/09 2:22:56 PM
SkaggsOVERTONES_text.indd 2 10/15/09 2:22:56 PM
Overtones of Opera in
American Literature from
Whitman to Wharton
YZ
Carmen Trammell Skaggs
Louisiana State University Press
Baton Rouge
SkaggsOVERTONES_text.indd 3 10/15/09 2:22:57 PM
Published by Louisiana State University Press
Copyright © 2010 by Louisiana State University Press
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the United States of America
first printing
designer: Amanda McDonald Scallan
typefaces: Text: Whitman; Display: Lucida Calligraphy
printer and binder: Thomson-Shore, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Skaggs, Carmen Trammell, 1976–
Overtones of opera in American literature from Whitman to
Wharton / Carmen Trammell Skaggs.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8071-3491-7 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. American literature—History and criticism. 2. Opera in
literature. I. Title.
PS121.S545 2009
810.9'3578—dc22
2009013463
This publication was funded in part by a Columbus State Faculty Development Grant.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on
Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. ∞
SkaggsOVERTONES_text.indd 4 10/15/09 2:22:57 PM
To my son, Nathan,
who fills each day with creativity,
wonderment, and delight
SkaggsOVERTONES_text.indd 5 10/15/09 2:22:57 PM
SkaggsOVERTONES_text.indd 6 10/15/09 2:22:57 PM
Contents
acknowledgments ix
introduction 1
1
embodying poetic transcendence
Whitman and Opera
13
2
divided attention
The Opera House in Poe and Alcott
34
3
an awakening of the artist
Opera in Chopin and Cather
58
4
a standard of taste and form
Opera in the Cosmopolitan World of James and Wharton
94
coda
Reverberating Voices
141
notes 143
works cited 147
index 157
SkaggsOVERTONES_text.indd 7 10/15/09 2:22:57 PM
SkaggsOVERTONES_text.indd 8 10/15/09 2:22:58 PM
Acknowledgments
I gratefully acknowledge Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study
of Literature for permission to reprint a version of “Looking through the
Opera Glasses: Performance and Artifice in The Age of Innocence” in chap-
ter four. The essay first appeared in Mosaic 37.1 (March 2004): 49–62.
For their wise suggestions during the drafting and revising of this
project, I extend my gratitude to Kristin Boudreau, Hubert McAlexan-
der, and Anne Williams.
With appreciation and admiration, I acknowledge my parents, Rob-
ert and Menlia Trammell, who introduced me to opera and literature,
instilling a lifelong love of these arts.
SkaggsOVERTONES_text.indd 9 10/15/09 2:22:58 PM