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Authors: Owen Wister
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3. Like Mario Puzo’s mafiosi, Wister’s Virginian has an archaic sense of honor. Does Wister give us any hint of where this sense comes from? Does the cowboy life in itself promote this?
4. If you were there at the wedding of the Virginian and Molly, would you have predicted a happy marriage? Are they truly suited to each other? What problems would you have foreseen?
For Further Reading
Writings by Wister relevant toThe Virginian
The Jimmyjohn Boss, and Other Stories.
New York: Harper, 1900. The second of Wister’s collections of western stories and sketches to be published.
New York: Harper, 1900. The second of Wister’s collections of western stories and sketches to be published.
Lady Baltimore.
New York: Macmillan, 1906. Wister’s other novel, popular in its time but now largely forgotten.
New York: Macmillan, 1906. Wister’s other novel, popular in its time but now largely forgotten.
Lin McLean.
New York and London: Harper and Brothers, 1897. Lin McLean was another of Wister’s recurrent cowboy characters, more humorous and less heroic than the Virginian. These are stories about him.
New York and London: Harper and Brothers, 1897. Lin McLean was another of Wister’s recurrent cowboy characters, more humorous and less heroic than the Virginian. These are stories about him.
Owen Wister Out West: His Journals and Letters.
Edited by Fanny Kemble Wister. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958. An edition of Wister’s western journals and some of the letters he wrote about his experiences.
Edited by Fanny Kemble Wister. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958. An edition of Wister’s western journals and some of the letters he wrote about his experiences.
Owen Wister’s West: Selected Articles.
Edited by Robert Murray Davis. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press: 1987.
Edited by Robert Murray Davis. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press: 1987.
Red Men and White.
Illustrated by Frederic Remington. New York: Harper, 1896. Wister’s first collection of western stories.
Illustrated by Frederic Remington. New York: Harper, 1896. Wister’s first collection of western stories.
Roosevelt: The Story of a Friendship
1880-1919. New York: Macmillan, 1930.
1880-1919. New York: Macmillan, 1930.
The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains.
New York: Macmillan, 1902. The original edition of the novel.
New York: Macmillan, 1902. The original edition of the novel.
The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains.
New York: Macmillan, 1911. The text used for this edition of the novel.
New York: Macmillan, 1911. The text used for this edition of the novel.
The West of Owen Wister : Selected Short Stories.
Introduction by Robert L. Hough. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1972.
LettersIntroduction by Robert L. Hough. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1972.
Vorpahl, Ben Merchant, ed.
My Dear Wister: The Frederic Remington-Owen Wister Letters.
Palo Alto, CA: American West Publishing Company, 1972.
My Dear Wister: The Frederic Remington-Owen Wister Letters.
Palo Alto, CA: American West Publishing Company, 1972.
Wister, Owen.
Fifty Years of The Virginian,
1902-1952. Laramie: University of Wyoming Library Associates, 1952.
Fifty Years of The Virginian,
1902-1952. Laramie: University of Wyoming Library Associates, 1952.
_____.
Owen Wister Out West: His Journals and Letters.
Edited by Fanny Kemble Wister. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958.
BiographiesOwen Wister Out West: His Journals and Letters.
Edited by Fanny Kemble Wister. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1958.
Cobbs, John L.
Owen Wister.
Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1984. A brief study of Wister’s life and writings.
Owen Wister.
Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1984. A brief study of Wister’s life and writings.
Kemble, Fanny.
Fanny Kemble’s Journals.
Edited and with an introduction by Catherine Clinton. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000. Wister’s grandmother kept a journal of her remarkable life and this is a useful selection of her entries.
Fanny Kemble’s Journals.
Edited and with an introduction by Catherine Clinton. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2000. Wister’s grandmother kept a journal of her remarkable life and this is a useful selection of her entries.
Payne, Darwin.
Owen Wister: Chronicler of the West, Gentleman of the East.
Dallas, TX: Southern Methodist University Press, 1985. The only recent full-scale biography of Wister and an indispensable source of information about him.
Owen Wister: Chronicler of the West, Gentleman of the East.
Dallas, TX: Southern Methodist University Press, 1985. The only recent full-scale biography of Wister and an indispensable source of information about him.
Stokes, Frances K.
My Father, Owen Wister.
Laramie, WY: 1952.
Criticism on Wister andMy Father, Owen Wister.
Laramie, WY: 1952.
The Virginian
Barsness, John A. “Theodore Roosevelt as Cowboy: The Virginian as Jacksonian Man.”
American Quarterly
21 (Fall 1969), pp. 609-619.
American Quarterly
21 (Fall 1969), pp. 609-619.
Davis, Robert Murray, ed.
Owen Wister’s West: Selected Articles.
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1987. A collection of essays.
Owen Wister’s West: Selected Articles.
Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1987. A collection of essays.
Estleman, Loren D.
The Wister Trace: Classic Novels of the American Frontier.
Ottawa, IL: Jameson Books, 1987.
The Wister Trace: Classic Novels of the American Frontier.
Ottawa, IL: Jameson Books, 1987.
Etulain, Richard W.
Owen Wister: The Western Writings.
Western Writers Series, no. 7. Boise, ID: Boise State College, 1973. A very short discussion of Wister and his work.
Owen Wister: The Western Writings.
Western Writers Series, no. 7. Boise, ID: Boise State College, 1973. A very short discussion of Wister and his work.
Graulich, Melody, and Stephen Tatum.
Reading “The Virginian” in the New West.
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003. An extremely interesting collection of essays that traces how the interpretation of The Virginian has changed in recent years.
Reading “The Virginian” in the New West.
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2003. An extremely interesting collection of essays that traces how the interpretation of The Virginian has changed in recent years.
Mitchell, Lee Clark. “ ‘When you call me that ...’: Tall Talk and Male Hegemony in
The Virginian.”
PMLA 102 (January 1987).
The Virginian.”
PMLA 102 (January 1987).
Reid, Margaret.
Cultural Secrets as Narrative Form : Storytelling in Nineteenth-Century America.
Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2004.
Cultural Secrets as Narrative Form : Storytelling in Nineteenth-Century America.
Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2004.
White, G. Edward.
The Eastern Establishment and the Western Experience: The West of Frederic Remington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Owen Wister.
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1968.
Criticism on WesternsThe Eastern Establishment and the Western Experience: The West of Frederic Remington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Owen Wister.
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1968.
Bold, Christine.
Selling the Wild West: Popular Western Fiction,
1860 to 1960. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987. An excellent study of the business of writing and publishing popular westerns.
Selling the Wild West: Popular Western Fiction,
1860 to 1960. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1987. An excellent study of the business of writing and publishing popular westerns.
Buscombe, Edward, ed.
The BFI Companion to the Western.
New York: Atheneum, 1988. A standard reference resource for all aspects of film westerns.
The BFI Companion to the Western.
New York: Atheneum, 1988. A standard reference resource for all aspects of film westerns.
Cawelti, John G.
The Six-Gun Mystique Sequel.
Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1999. A study of the relationship between the myth of the West and the evolving genre of the western. Includes extensive bibliographies and filmographies.
The Six-Gun Mystique Sequel.
Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1999. A study of the relationship between the myth of the West and the evolving genre of the western. Includes extensive bibliographies and filmographies.
Everson, William K.
The Hollywood Western: 90 Years of Cowboys and Indians, Train Robbers, Sheriffs and Gunslingers, and Assorted Heroes and Desperados.
Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing Group, 1992. Standard history of western films.
The Hollywood Western: 90 Years of Cowboys and Indians, Train Robbers, Sheriffs and Gunslingers, and Assorted Heroes and Desperados.
Secaucus, NJ: Carol Publishing Group, 1992. Standard history of western films.
French, Philip.
Westerns: Aspects of a Movie Genre.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1977. An early but still useful analysis of the way in which western films express different political ideologies.
Westerns: Aspects of a Movie Genre.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1977. An early but still useful analysis of the way in which western films express different political ideologies.
Folsom, James K.
The American Western Novel.
New Haven, CT: College and University Press, 1966. Particularly useful on nineteenth-century novels about the West.
The American Western Novel.
New Haven, CT: College and University Press, 1966. Particularly useful on nineteenth-century novels about the West.
Limerick, Patricia Nelson.
The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West.
New York: W. W. Norton, 1987. A leading example of how the new western history embodies a view of the West very different from that of Wister and his contemporaries.
The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West.
New York: W. W. Norton, 1987. A leading example of how the new western history embodies a view of the West very different from that of Wister and his contemporaries.
Mitchell, Lee Clark.
Westerns: Making the Man in Fiction and Film.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. A rich and complex analysis of the ideology of masculinity as expressed in major western novels and films; includes an insightful analysis of Wister.
Westerns: Making the Man in Fiction and Film.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996. A rich and complex analysis of the ideology of masculinity as expressed in major western novels and films; includes an insightful analysis of Wister.
Pettey, Homer B.
The Western.
Vashon Island, WA: Paradoxa, 2004. A valuable recent anthology of essays about the changing treatment of the West in popular culture. Extensive and very useful bibliographies and filmographies, somewhat like those in Cawelti’s
The Six-Gun Mystique
Sequel (see above).
The Western.
Vashon Island, WA: Paradoxa, 2004. A valuable recent anthology of essays about the changing treatment of the West in popular culture. Extensive and very useful bibliographies and filmographies, somewhat like those in Cawelti’s
The Six-Gun Mystique
Sequel (see above).
Slotkin, Richard.
Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America.
New York: Atheneum, 1992.
Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America.
New York: Atheneum, 1992.
_____.
Regeneration Through Violence: The Mythology of the American Frontier,
1600-1860. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1973.
Regeneration Through Violence: The Mythology of the American Frontier,
1600-1860. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1973.
.
The Fatal Environment: The Myth of the Frontier in the Age of Industrialization,
1800-1890. New York: Atheneum, 1985. The most important single study of the myth of the frontier in American culture. Traces the history of this myth from the original colonists to the present time. The three volumes included here and above overlap to some extent but basically follow the evolution of the myth of the frontier.
The Fatal Environment: The Myth of the Frontier in the Age of Industrialization,
1800-1890. New York: Atheneum, 1985. The most important single study of the myth of the frontier in American culture. Traces the history of this myth from the original colonists to the present time. The three volumes included here and above overlap to some extent but basically follow the evolution of the myth of the frontier.
Smith, Henry Nash.
Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1950. A classic work that virtually created the field of study of westerns and the myth of the West.
Virgin Land: The American West as Symbol and Myth.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1950. A classic work that virtually created the field of study of westerns and the myth of the West.
Tompkins, Jane P.
West of Everything: The Inner Life of Westerns.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. A feminist analysis of the western.
West of Everything: The Inner Life of Westerns.
New York: Oxford University Press, 1992. A feminist analysis of the western.
Turner, Frederick Jackson.
The Significance of the Frontier in American
History. 1894. New York: Holt, 1947. Turner’s essays on the frontier deeply influenced the writing of American history for at least two generations.
The Significance of the Frontier in American
History. 1894. New York: Holt, 1947. Turner’s essays on the frontier deeply influenced the writing of American history for at least two generations.
Warshow, Robert.
The Immediate Experience: Movies, Comics, Theatre and Other Aspects of Popular Culture.
Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964. A pioneering collection of essays about popular culture that includes Warshow’s classic analysis of the western.
The Immediate Experience: Movies, Comics, Theatre and Other Aspects of Popular Culture.
Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964. A pioneering collection of essays about popular culture that includes Warshow’s classic analysis of the western.
Western Literature Association.
Updating the Literary West.
Forth Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 1997. Interestingly, Wister is not considered by these contemporary scholars and critics to be a real western writer. This collection of essays on western literature mentions him only a few times.
Updating the Literary West.
Forth Worth: Texas Christian University Press, 1997. Interestingly, Wister is not considered by these contemporary scholars and critics to be a real western writer. This collection of essays on western literature mentions him only a few times.
White, G. Edward.
The Eastern Establishment and the Western Experience: The West of Frederic Remington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Owen Wister.
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1968. A very important study of the late nineteenth century elite’s quest for regeneration in the West. Concentrates on the parallels between Wister, Roosevelt, and Remington.
Western TerminologyThe Eastern Establishment and the Western Experience: The West of Frederic Remington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Owen Wister.
New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1968. A very important study of the late nineteenth century elite’s quest for regeneration in the West. Concentrates on the parallels between Wister, Roosevelt, and Remington.
Blevins, Winfred,
Dictionary of the American West.
New York: Facts on File, 1993.
Dictionary of the American West.
New York: Facts on File, 1993.
Farmer, John Stephen.
Americanisms—Old and New:
1889. Ann Arbor, MI: Gryphon Books, 1971.
Americanisms—Old and New:
1889. Ann Arbor, MI: Gryphon Books, 1971.
Mathews, Mitford M.
Americanisms: A Dictionary of Selected Americanisms on Historical Principles.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966.
Other WesternsAmericanisms: A Dictionary of Selected Americanisms on Historical Principles.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966.
Harte, Bret.
The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Short Stories.
New York: Dover Publications, 1992. Along with Mark Twain, Harte was a leading writer about the West in the years before Wister and strongly influenced his work.
The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Short Stories.
New York: Dover Publications, 1992. Along with Mark Twain, Harte was a leading writer about the West in the years before Wister and strongly influenced his work.
Twain, Mark.
Roughing
It. Foreword by Shelley Fisher Fishkin; introduction by George Plimpton; afterword by Henry B. Wonham. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Twain’s humorous West along with Cooper’s romantic version and Bret Harte’s picturesque approach were Wister’s most important models for writing about the West.
Roughing
It. Foreword by Shelley Fisher Fishkin; introduction by George Plimpton; afterword by Henry B. Wonham. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Twain’s humorous West along with Cooper’s romantic version and Bret Harte’s picturesque approach were Wister’s most important models for writing about the West.
a
Style of eighteenth-century English furniture inspired by the designs of Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779).
b
Useless.
c
City of southeastern Wyoming, settled in 1868 with the coming of the railroad.
d
That is, that stout waitress. Wister wrote in
Lin McLead:
“‘Biscuit-shooter’ is a grand word. Very likely some Homer of the railroad yards first said it—for what men upon the present earth so speak with imagination’s tongue as we Americans?”
Lin McLead:
“‘Biscuit-shooter’ is a grand word. Very likely some Homer of the railroad yards first said it—for what men upon the present earth so speak with imagination’s tongue as we Americans?”
e
City in southern Wyoming just east of the Continental Divide, founded in 1868.
f
Cook’s shop or restaurant.
g
Traveling salesmen; sometimes a slang term for “thieves.”
h
Sham remedy sold to cure consumption (tuberculosis).
i
German (from the German word
Deutsche,
meaning “German”); sometimes used as a derogatory term for any European or foreigner.
Deutsche,
meaning “German”); sometimes used as a derogatory term for any European or foreigner.
j
Strong coffee made over an open fire; in the West called “cowboy brew.” “Cowboy coffee” was whiskey served neat.
k
Evaporated and sweetened milk was easier to preserve and transport.
l
Cuban tobacco leaves of a superior grade prepared and used for the outer cover of cigars.
m
Cone-shaped object consisting of a piece of cork or rubber fitted with a crown of feathers, used in the games of “battledore and shuttlecock” and badminton.
n
Major north-south avenue of New York City, lined with elegant office and apartment buildings and stores.
o
Canyon.
p
Quaking aspen trees are so named because their leaves quiver in even a slight breeze.
q
Beat (as with sticks).
r
On the move; “gad” likely refers to rambling about, as in the phrases “gadabout” or “on the gad.”
s
Menu.
t
That is, an inexperienced newcomer who is unfamiliar with pioneer life; the term was originally applied to imported cattle.
u
Dressed in a garment with a low-cut neckline.
v
English naturalist Charles Darwin’s groundbreaking work
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection
was first published in 1859.
On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection
was first published in 1859.
w
Somewhat Somewhat disparaging term for “fellow.”
x
That is, leaving; from the Spanish word
vamos
(“let’s go”).
vamos
(“let’s go”).
y
The locoweed plant causes horses and livestock to be afflicted with locoism, a disease causing lack of coordination and trembling.
z
That is, soon (poco is Spanish for “not much” or “little”).
aa
Las Cruces, a city in southern New Mexico.
ab
Cities in New York and Vermont.
ac
Typists.
ad
Town in eastern New York on the Mohawk River, northwest of Albany.
ae
Alkali Alkali is a soluble salt found in the soil of many low-lying, arid regions of the West.
af
One who has a fondness for pies; the Virginian is affectionately calling Monte a sweet tooth, or a spoiled horse.
ag
Courting or flirting with, especially in a sentimental manner.
ah
Dance resembling a polka.
ai
Scarlet fever; an extremely contagious febrile disease characterized by a red rash.
BOOK: Virginian (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)
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