Abstract
This thesis focuses on how Lee Smith, a North Carolina writer, uses the traditional female epistolary form in a revolutionary way in her 1988 novel Fair and Tender Ladies. Smith's use of the form is revolutionary because, as many critics have observed, protagonists in this genre tend to be victims; however, Ivy Rowe, the protagonist of the novel, is no victim. Smith reworks certain traditional characteristics of the genre, such as a heroine's isolation, so that they empower rather than weaken Ivy. I explore in depth why Ivy writes letters instead of keeping a diary, and I look closely at the letters she writes to non-responding audiences such as her mentallyretarded sister Silvaney. I argue that the letters to Silvaney show how Ivy's artistry and imagination allow her to know her self well and avoid the self-destructive behavior that has plagued many of Smith's previous female protagonists. In addition, because Silvaney occupies the curious status of being both real and not real, I look at D. W. Winnicott's object relations theory. I argue that Ivy's prolonged ability to both find and create Silvaney helps her to accept her own, sometimes unpleasant, reality.
Grubbs, Amy Marie (1994). Lee Smith's Fair and Tender Ladies: the female espistolary novel and the construction of knowledge. Master's thesis, Texas A&M University. Available electronically from
https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /ETD -TAMU -1994 -THESIS -G885.