A Portrait of the Lady in Modern American Literature is a collection of fifteen original essays, and a reprint of a classic essay, that reconsiders the figure of the woman in distress in canonical American texts. Approached from the method of close reading and the theoretical perspective of gender theory, these essays look at the forgotten women at the heart of such beloved works as The Tragic Muse, The Awakening, The Age of Innocence, The Great Gatsby, Machinal, Passing, The Sound and the Fury, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and The Hours. In taking up the famous question "What does a woman want?" this collection finds some answers in artistic endeavour, political agency, freedom, and – above all – independence.