The Lottery (Masterplots II: Women’s Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Shirley Jackson
- First Published: 1948
- Type of Work: Short stories
- Genres: Psychological fiction, Short fiction, Domestic realism, Satire, Gothic fiction, Parable, Suspense
- Subjects: Racism, Gender roles, Psychology or psychologists, Marriage, 1940’s, Prejudices or antipathies, Alienation, Manners or customs, Reality, Victims, Small-town life, Human behavior, Rites or ceremonies, Lotteries, Festivals
- Locales: New England
Form and Content
The Lottery: Or, The Adventures of James Harris is the only collection of Shirley Jackson’s short stories published during her lifetime. The twenty-five stories are divided into four numbered sections by extracts from Sadducismus Triumphatus, Joseph Glanvil’s seventeenth century defense of witchcraft, and followed by a fifth numbered section, an “Epilogue” presenting the last seven stanzas of the ballad “James Harris, The Daemon Lover.” Although different characters named Harris do appear in several of the stories, critics have been...
[The entire page is 2334 words long]
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