The Gentleman in the Garden: The Influential Landscape in the Works of James Fenimore Cooper

by Russell T. Newman

Overview

The Gentleman in the Garden: The Influential Landscape of James Fenimore Cooper examines the profound and previously unrecognized relationship between landscape and social standing in the work of James Fenimore Cooper. Russell T. Newman looks at the use of landscape in a wide array of Cooper's novels to illustrate the great author's distinctive outlook on what it meant to be a gentleman in the early days of America. Both a broad overview of Cooper's work and an in-depth examination of its views on society,The Gentleman in the Garden is more than a glimpse into the pioneer aesthetic of one of America's earliest authors: it demonstrates how Cooper re-defined the concept of the gentleman to suit American life. Only in the land of democracy, opportunity and rolling countryside can a true Cooper gentleman emerge.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780739105818
Publisher:	Lexington Books
Publication date:	08/18/2003
Pages:	120
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.24(h) x 0.54(d)

About the Author

Russell Newman is Assistant Professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 The Gentleman from the American Garden Chapter 3 Creating the Gentleman, Creating the American Garden Chapter 4 The Wilderness and the Gentleman Chapter 5 The Gentleman and the Island Chapter 6 The Sea and the Old Country Chapter 7 Conclusion

Editorial Reviews

Jargon free and imbued with a deep appreciation of the primary literature, Russ Newman's study of Cooper provides an excellent rereading of a host of previously neglected novels. Newman takes us on a voyage through Cooper's novels that provides a refreshing reassessment of the role of nature in the development of Cooper's major heroic theme: the new American gentleman.

Patrick Murphy

Ecocritical analysis of Cooper is long overdue, and Newman delivers it with intelligence and insight.

James M. Cahalan