Date of Award

2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Reid, Amy

Keywords

Collaboration, Gender, Power Dynamics

Area of Concentration

Literature

Abstract

This thesis explores the consequences of collaboration between artistic couples, focusing on gendered power dynamics and addressing the importance and difficulty of discussing biography. The introduction provides various examples of artistic partnerships from the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from Camille Claudel and Rodin to Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas. The first chapter exposes Ted Hughes�s efforts to rewrite the narrative of Ariel, Plath�s posthumously published collection of poetry. However, a close reading of Plath�s arrangement reveals her resistance to her husband�s control as she constantly indicts Hughes for his betrayal and asserts her feminine agency independent of him. The second chapter focuses on Georgia O�Keeffe and Alfred Stieglitz, who promoted O�Keeffe�s career, heralding her as an essentially feminine, American artist. Stieglitz perpetuated this view both in his criticism of her work and by displaying her as a sexual object in his photographic portrait of her. Despite O�Keeffe�s resistance to Stieglitz�s promotion, critics adopted his view due to his privileged position in the art world. My thesis opens up questions about how gendered power dynamics affect the personal and professional lives of artist couples and how assumptions about gender filter our reading of the lives and work of women artists.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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