The Story of an African Farm
{{They Story of an African Farm}}
Basic Info
- Author: Olive Schreiner
- Year: 1883
- Type: primary 1
Summary (brief)
-3 childhood friends (Waldo, Em, Lyndall) growing up on an isolated sheep farm in South Africa's Karoo region. Struggles against strict religious dogma, patriarchal traditions
Major Themes
Key Passages / Quotes
Quote 1
quote:: “So near she draws you, that the blood seems to flow from her to you, through a still uncut cord: you feel the throb of her life”
page:: 165
themes:: #trans-corporeality
Genre Notes
-Semi-autobiographical
Characters / Concepts (if relevant)
-Waldo (son of German overseer); travels the world to find meaning and success - finds nothing and returns to farm.
-Em (domestic cousin); new woman character; critiques lack of education, power, and autonomy women suffered in Victorian society
Lyndall (fiercely independent intellectual cousin); rejects marriage; has baby with a lover and dies young
-Bonaparte Blenkins (cruel, manipulative, con man who abuses children)
-Tant Sannie (tricked by Bonaparte)
Theory Connections
Related Texts
My Argument / Interpretation
Dissertation Relevance
How could this matter to my project?
-This story features an oppressive landscape (immense, isolating, punishing environment) and themes of Feminism and The New Woman.