them | Essays and Criticism

  • Roles of Class and Gender

    In the following essay she explores the roles of class and gender in constructing the oppressive physical reality of the characters in them.

  • Perception of Life

    In the following essay, DeCurtis examines how Oates’s characters in them perceive their lives as unreal and fictional accounts as representative of “real life.”

  • Naturalism or Romanticism

    In the following excerpt, Giles examines the debate over classification of Oates’s writing, considering the views of those who declare it naturalism or romanticism, and Oates’s own preference for the phrase “psychological realism.”