By Stephen Crane 1871-1900 First
published: 1893 Time of plot: Late Nineteenth Century Locale: New York City Keywords: Stephen Crane, Maggie: a Girl of the
Streets, naturalism in literature, prostitutes in literature,
social class, slum life, suicide
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Stephen Crane, the youngest of fourteen children,
was born November 1, 1871 in Newark, New Jersey. His father, the Reverend
Dr. Jonathan Townley Crane, was a Methodist minister. His mother, Mary Peck
Crane, was an educated and involved woman for Victorian times. This deeply
religious family moved often as his father changed churches, but, on Dr. Crane's
death in 1880, the mother returned with Stephen to New Jersey, first to Newark
and then to Asbury Park. She was elected president of the Woman's Christian
Temperance Union in that city and lectured frequently in support of this organization.
Crane, now in his teens, rebelled against his strict upbringing, and was sent
to military school. After high school, he attended college for a year and
then dropped out. He moved to New York City, where he began his career as
a newspaper journalist. He learned much about big city life and his explorations
of the Bowery gave him material for his first novel, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, published in 1893. Because of the book's
controversial subject matter, he had to print it privately. It was not a
commercial success but did receive several favorable reviews, including one from
the noted author, William Dean Howells.
Crane continued to write and, in
1896, published his most famous work, The
Red Badge of Courage This novel was
critically acclaimed, and led to international fame. However, his defense
of a New York prostitute who had been harassed by the police led to trouble with
the authorities, and he fled to Florida to report on the Cuban insurrection against
Spain. In Florida he met the madam of a brothel, Cora Taylor, with whom
he lived for the rest of his short life. He continued to seek adventure
by reporting on conflicts in Greece and the Spanish American War. He lived
his last years in England, feverishly writing articles, stories and poems to keep
his creditors at bay. He died of tuberculosis in Germany, where Cora had
taken him in search of a cure, on June 5, 1900 before he reached the age of thirty.
During the next twenty years his work was almost forgotten. In 1923 Thomas
Beer published a biography of Crane which once more brought him to public attention,
and his reputation has steadily increased since.
For More Information:
REF PN 41.D5, vols.12, 54, 78 - Dictionary of LiteraryBiography
DLB is a multi-volume work which provides detailed
biographical sketches of the authors' literary writings as well
as general
critical commentary.
REF PS 129.A55, vol. 1 - American Writers
This collection of literary biographies provides information
about the lives, careers and works of American writers
REF PS 21.M34, vol. 2 - Magill's Survey of American
Literature
Discussion of Stephen Crane's contributions and achievements in
literature.
REF PS 21.H3 - Oxford Companion to American
Literature
One page summary of the author's life and literary significance
PS 1449.C85 Z982 - The Crane Log
This book, a part of the American Authors Log Series, is a biography of
Stephen Crane
CHARACTERS AND PLOT SUMMARY
Maggie - a girl of the slums of New York City
Jimmie - her brother
Pete - Jimmie's friend and Maggie's lover
The Mother
Maggie is a child living in the tenements of the
Bowery, a slum area of New York City. Her father and mother are both alcoholics,
and she and her two brothers suffer a violent and abusive childhood. The
younger of the two boys dies, but Maggie and Jimmie survive. Maggie grows
into a beautiful girl, somehow untouched by the squalor around her. When
her brother brings home his friend Pete, who shows her some attention, she falls
in love with him. She fails to see him as the uncouth braggart that he
is and succumbs to his charms. She goes to live with him, but Pete soon
tires of her. She tries to return home, but is turned away. Both
her mother and her brother condemn her as a fallen woman, despite the immoral
behavior of both of them. Maggie, homeless and penniless, turns to prostitution
to make a living. As her life becomes more dismal, she commits suicide. Her mother, on learning of Maggie's death, wails hypocritically that she will
forgive Maggie her sins.
SUBJECTS TO CONSIDER
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that will help you find the information you need. These can be names of people,
literary works, events, or broader identifying terms. Use these keywords
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on the internet.
Sample Keywords:
Hypocrisy; Naturalism; Life in the slums; Intolerance; Self-righteousness; Irony in Maggie; Human Cruelty; The place of women in society; Prostitution; Fatalism; Conventional morality; Respectability; Unreal view of life; Indifference
BOOKS CONTAINING CRITICISMS
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Use the Library Catalog
to locate books in the Lone Star College System. Enter the author's name, Stephen Crane, in the subject
keyword box.
REF PN 771.G27 Twentieth Century Literary Criticism
TCLC contains excerpts from critical essays in books and
journals. Use these volumes to 1) select a topic or theme 2) find
the full articles or essay in the library, and 3) locate other articles
and books from
the "Further Reading" section.
REF PN 523.W67 Vol. 2. World Literature
Criticism
A broad selection of the best criticism of works by major writers
REF PR 85.C76 Vol. 10. The New Moulton's Library of Literary Criticism
An analysis of the author's writing style as well as a copy of
the criticism by William Dean Howells
REF PN 3451.C7 Vol. 2. Critical Survey of Long
Fiction : Authors
The essay on Stephen Crane gives his principal works, his
achievements, a short biography, and an analysis of the novel.
PS 1449.C85.M3 Maggie: A Girl of the Streets :
A Norton Critical Edition
Backgrounds and sources, reviews and criticism as well as the text of the
novel
picture courtesy of Cathy Decker
EVENTS AT THE
TIME THE NOVEL WAS WRITTEN
From 1880 to 1900 the population of
the United States increased by some twenty-six million people, nine
million of whom were immigrants. These new citizens settled in
urban centers instead of on the land as
had previously been the case. These people formed their own
ethnic
communities within the cities. New York City's population grew to
three million people. The resultant need for more municipal
services,
housing, jobs, and educational facilities overwhelmed the local
government.
Tensions among the various groups erupted into violence that local
police
were unable to completely control. The corrupt Tammany Hall
political
machine dominated the city's government by promising the poor a
solution
to their problems. The federal government was led by a succession
of ineffective presidents, and was only a minor presence in the lives
of
most Americans.
The captains of industry such as John
Pierpont Morgan held the power. The industrial revolution
was bringing major changes. Railroads now crisscrossed the
nation, moving manufactured goods and raw
materials to and from the major port cities. Labor issues such as
workplace
safety, the eight-hour day, and the right to organize were the
principles
expounded by such labor leaders as Eugene Debs. The increasing
diversity
of its citizens and the desire by the newcomers to have their piece of
the
"American pie" led to social and cultural upheaval. The largely
Protestant,
rural, Anglo-Saxon culture was being displaced. The resultant
cultural
shock caused feelings of uncertainty and anxiety among the
citizens.
The country was remaking itself, changing its values, reassessing its
long-held notions of democracy and equality, and becoming a society
that gauged personal worth by money and possessions. "The Gilded
Age" accurately describes the America of the 1880's and 1890's. Stephen
Crane's realistic, ironic, and iconoclastic writings come out of this
environment.
Books about the times
REF E 165.M5 - The Writer's Guide to EverydayLife
in the 1800's
A topical dictionary of information on everyday life in the 1800s
REF E 169.1.A47194 1878-99, Vol. 6 - American Eras
A detailed history of the years from 1878 to 1899
REF HN 57.E58 - Encyclopedia of American Social
History
This three volume reference work has a number of essays on the
social issues of the Gilded Age
E 168.G48 - Age of Excess: the United States from 1877 to
1914
Discusses American culture during this period
HD8066.W47 Vol. 2. - Who Built America?
Includes information about the Gilded Age working people and
their culture
HV 4046.N6.R58 - How the Other Half Lives
This work, written in 1890, describes slum conditions in New York
City
PS 88.H6 - Backgrounds of American Literary Thought
An excellent chapter on literary naturalism
FINDING JOURNAL ARTICLES
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you if they need to. There is some overlap of articles in the following databases.
However, we encourage you to use more than one. All are excellent sources
for this topic.
Search or browse the complete back issues for over 200 journals in literature,
economics, history, social sciences, science and mathematics. The most current
issue available is determined by publisher agreements and varies. Search for more recent articles in Project
MUSE.
This database includes most of the information in TCLC, World Literature
Criticism, and Dictionary of Literary Biography. It also has a few scholarly
journal articles. You'll also find links to appropriate Internet sites.
This is the most important database for your research. Use it to find
articles in journals and essays. There is some full text, but many of
the journal articles will be available from the Lone Star College-Kingwood Library.
Scholarly, multi-discipline database, with many full text articles. Choose
the Advanced Search feature and select Full Text and Scholarly
(Peer Reviewed) to get good results.
This huge database is not exclusively a literary database, but a number
of literary journals are indexed and some are available in full text.
Many articles will be available on microfiche at the library.
The full text of Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
is available in NetLibrary, a collection of electronic books. "Create a Free account" in NetLibrary to save book titles and notes on books you read.
The Internet will be a wonderful source
of original documents. Browse the sites we have suggested below. Remember, you do want to find
reputable sites. Look at:
Accuracy - The information should be researched and
show proof that it has been.
Source - Who wrote the information? Look at the domain. .edu .gov. org .net are valid research sources.
Authority - What are the author's credentials? (Don't quote from another college freshman's paper.)
Coverage - Does the page have the information you need
for your research?
Objectivity - If a work is biased, use it - just make
sure your professor knows YOU know. And offer both sides of issues, where
applicable.
UNACCEPTABLE SOURCE EXAMPLE: http://www.rit.edu/~nrcgsh/bx/bx04b.html - This appears to be part of a book, and the information is probably
excellent. But there is nothing we can see that tells you title, author, dates,
publisher or any of the other needed information. As it stands, it
should not be used in an academic research paper.
American
Realism Resource Page
Excellent links to definition and background material of realism
in American literature from an English course at Pittsburg State University.
To learn more about the times, watch
Fallen Ladies of the 19th Century
by Peggy Whitley (approx. 6 minutes; requires
QuickTime.
Note: this may take a few minutes to load.)
Maggie is a child living in the tenements of the
Bowery, a slum area of New York City. Her father and mother are both alcoholics,
and she and her two brothers suffer a violent and abusive childhood. The
younger of the two boys dies, but Maggie and Jimmie survive. Maggie grows
into a beautiful girl, somehow untouched by the squalor around her. When
her brother brings home his friend Pete, who shows her some attention, she falls
in love with him. She fails to see him as the uncouth braggart that he
is and succumbs to his charms. She goes to live with him, but Pete soon
tires of her. She tries to return home, but is turned away. Both
her mother and her brother condemn her as a fallen woman, despite the immoral
behavior of both of them. Maggie, homeless and penniless, turns to prostitution
to make a living. As her life becomes more dismal, she commits suicide. Her mother, on learning of Maggie's death, wails hypocritically that she will
forgive Maggie her sins. 
Librarian Talk . . . About Finding
Journal and Newspaper Articles!
