Small Changes (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Marge Piercy
- First Published: 1973
- Type of Plot: Social criticism
- Time of Work: The late 1960’s through the early 1970’s
- Setting: Primarily Boston, but also New York City, Syracuse, Cleveland, and rural New Hampshire
- Principal Characters: Beth Walker, Miriam Berg, Phil, Jackson, Neil Stone, Wanda Rosario
- Genres: Long fiction, Social realism
- Subjects: 1960’s, 1970’s, North America or North Americans, Self-discovery, United States or Americans, Homosexuality or homosexuals, Sex or sexuality, Marriage, Midwest, Ohio, Lesbianism or lesbians, Women’s movement
- Locales: Ohio, Cleveland, OH, Northeast (U.S.)
The Novel
The novel’s ironic title, Small Changes, indicates the nature of the action—small but often significant change taking place in the lives of most of the major characters. Although Piercy provides commentary on almost all the social and political concerns of the 1960’s and the 1970’s, she parallels the development of the two protagonists, Beth and Miriam, with the similarly erratic and often painful progress of the women’s movement.
The novel opens with the marriage of Beth Phail, a shy and seemingly conventional girl, to her high school...
[The entire page is 2609 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
See Also
