- Born:
- July 14, 1860, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
- Died:
- July 21, 1938, North Kingstown, Rhode Island (aged 78)
- Notable Works:
- âThe Virginianâ
Owen Wister
-
Who was Owen Wister?
Owen Wister (1860â1938) was an American novelist who is known for The Virginian (1902), a novel that established the cowboy as a folk hero and the Western as a legitimate literary genre. Despite his privileged upbringing in an Eastern family, Wister's experiences in the American West led him to champion its stories.
The Virginian solidified the cowboy archetype and introduced common Western storylines, such as the Eastern schoolteacher and her cowboy lover. The novel's climactic gun duel is considered the first "showdown" in fiction, and it popularized the line: "When you call me that, smile!" Wister's other works include Lady Baltimore (1905) and Roosevelt: The Story of a Friendship, 1880â1919 (1930).
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What is Owen Wister best known for writing?
Owen Wister is best known for his novel The Virginian, published in 1902. The novel helped establish the cowboy as a folk hero in the United States and the Western genre as legitimate literature. The Virginian tells the story of an unnamed cowboy who embodies civilized values in the uncivilized West. The book solidified the cowboy as a fictional character and introduced standard storylines now common in Westerns. The novel's climactic gun duel is considered the first showdown in fiction, and it introduced the classic phrase, "When you call me that, smile!"
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What is the novel 'The Virginian' about?
Owen Wister's novel, The Virginian, published in 1902, significantly contributed to establishing the American cowboy as a folk hero. The story revolves around a mysterious cowboy, known only as "the Virginian," who works as a foreman on a cattle ranch in Wyoming during the late 1870s and 1880s. His relationship with a schoolteacher from the East is threatened by the violence inherent in his frontier code. The novel's climactic gun duel is considered the first "showdown" in fiction and introduced the classic line, "When you call me that, smile!"
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How did Owen Wister help shape the Western genre in literature?
Owen Wister significantly shaped the Western genre with his novel, The Virginian (1902), which helped establish the cowboy as a folk hero and the Western as a legitimate literary genre.
His work introduced standard Western storylines, like the Eastern schoolteacher and the rough cowboy with a harsh ethical code. Wister's novel is considered the first to use the climactic gun duel, and it gave rise to the famous saying, "When you call me that, smile!". Despite later criticisms, The Virginian was a best seller, critically acclaimed, and adapted into various plays, films, and TV series, solidifying its influence on the genre.
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What influenced Owen Wister to write stories set in the American West?
Owen Wister, born into an affluent Eastern family, was initially an unlikely champion of the American West. A summer spent in Wyoming for recuperation in 1885, after ill health disrupted his musical studies in Paris, sparked his fascination with the West. The enthusiastic acceptance by Harperâs of his Western sketches in 1891 led him to dedicate himself to a literary career. His novel, The Virginian (1902), solidified the cowboy as a stock fictional character and introduced classic Western storylines. Wister's work contributed significantly to the romanticized view of the West in American cultural identity.
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How has Owen Wister's work impacted American culture and later writers?
Owen Wister's novel The Virginian (1902) was a major influence on American culture, establishing the cowboy as a folk hero and the Western as a legitimate genre. It solidified the cowboy as a fictional character and introduced standard storylines now common in Westerns, like the Eastern schoolteacher and the rough cowboy with a harsh code of ethics. The book's climactic gun duel is considered the first showdown in fiction, and it popularized the line, "When you call me that, smile!". Despite criticisms, its influence is undeniable, as it was one of the first mass-market bestsellers in the United States and the first Western to receive critical acclaim.
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Owen Wister (born July 14, 1860, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.âdied July 21, 1938, North Kingstown, Rhode Island) was an American novelist whose novel The Virginian (1902) helped establish the cowboy as a folk hero in the United States and the western as a legitimate genre of literature. The Virginian is the prototypical western novel and, arguably, the work most responsible for the romanticized view of the West that is an important part of American cultural identity.
Wister was an unlikely champion of the American West. He was born into privilege, to an Eastern family of considerable means. His father was an affluent doctor and his mother one of the daughters of famous English actress Fanny Kemble. He also had ties to the aristocracy of the American South; his great-grandfather was Pierce Butler, a delegate from South Carolina to the Constitutional Convention (1787).
Wister was educated at boarding schools in New England and Switzerland, graduated from Harvard in 1882, and then studied musical composition in Paris for two years. Ill health forced his return to the United States, and for purposes of recuperation he spent the summer of 1885 in Wyoming. In the fall Wister entered Harvard Law School, graduating in 1888, and, after being admitted to the bar in 1889, he practiced for two years in Philadelphia. He continued to spend his summers in the West, and in 1891, after the enthusiastic acceptance by Harperâs of two of his Western sketches, he devoted himself to a literary career.
The Virginian is the story of an unnamed cowboy who, despite his hardened exterior, displays the âcivilizedâ values of chivalry and honour in the âuncivilizedâ environment of the West. The book was an immediate best seller and made Wister a wealthy man. It solidified the cowboy as a stock fictional character and introduced story lines now considered standard in westerns, such as the virginal heroine, a schoolteacher from the East, and her rough cowboy lover, who depends for his life on a harsh code of ethics. The book also reflects the theme of sectional reconciliationâthe cowboy is a Southerner-turned-Westerner who courts the Easternerâso common in post-Civil War American fiction. The bookâs climactic gun duel is considered the first such âshowdownâ in fiction, and the book is the source of one of the most famous tough-guy admonitions in American popular culture: âWhen you call me that, smile!â Although 21st-century critics often criticize the bookâs romanticism, sentimentality, and myth-making about the West, few deny its extraordinary influence: it was one of the first mass-market best sellers in the United States; it was the first western to receive critical acclaim; and it was later the basis of a play, several films, and television series.
Wisterâs other major works include Lady Baltimore (1905), a number of books for children, and Roosevelt: The Story of a Friendship, 1880â1919 (1930), detailing his long acquaintance with Theodore Roosevelt, a Harvard classmate, to whom Wister dedicated The Virginian. (Western artist Frederic Remington was also a lifelong friend.) Wisterâs collected writings were published in 11 volumes in 1928. His journals and letters from 1885 to 1895 were published in Owen Wister Out West (1958), edited by his daughter, Fanny Kemble Wister.