Judith P. Saunders

This collection of essays examines selected works in the American literary tradition from an evolutionary perspective. Using an interdisciplinary framework to pose new questions about long admired, much discussed texts, the collection as a whole provides an introduction to Darwinian literary critical methodology. Individual essays feature a variety of figures—Benjamin Franklin to Billy Collins—targeting fitness-related issues ranging from sexual strategies and parental investment to cheating and deception. Attention is paid to the physical and social environments in which fictional characters are placed, including the influence of cultural–historical conditions on resource acquisition, status-building, competition, and reciprocity. The discussion throughout the volume makes connections to existing secondary comments, suggesting how Darwinian scrutiny can generate unexpected insight into long familiar works.

This collection of essays examines selected works in the American literary tradition from an evolutionary perspective. Using an interdisciplinary framework to pose new questions about long admired, much discussed texts, the collection as a whole provides an introduction to Darwinian literary critical methodology. Individual essays feature a variety of figures—Benjamin Franklin to Billy Collins—targeting fitness-related issues ranging from sexual strategies and parental investment to cheating and deception. Attention is paid to the physical and social environments in which fictional characters are placed, including the influence of cultural–historical conditions on resource acquisition, status-building, competition, and reciprocity. The discussion throughout the volume makes connections to existing secondary comments, suggesting how Darwinian scrutiny can generate unexpected insight into long familiar works.

Beneath the polished surface of the genteel environments delineated in Wharton's fiction, characters are competing fiercely for desirable mates, questing for social status and resources, and plotting ruthlessly to advance their relatives' fortunes in life. This book identifies these and other evolutionary issues central to her fiction, demonstrating their significance in terms of character, setting, plot, and theme. Connections to existing Wharton criticism are made throughout the book, so that readers can see how an evolutionary perspective enriches, refutes, or reconfigures insights derived from other critical approaches.