Frank Merriwell at Yale Rachel McKinney Megan Simmons April 4, 2017 English 3308– Dr. Rukavina

Background Information Author: Gilbert Patten, or Burt L. Standish Series: The Adventures of Frank Merriwell, 1896-1930 Also appeared as radio dramas, comic strips, and film

Summary Frank Merriwell is the representation of the ideal man Enters Yale University as a freshman, and is navigating college life with social and academic activities He meets opposition in Jack Diamond, whose goal is to humiliate Frank Merriwell by proving his masculinity He also meets conflict in the “sophs”, or sophomores, and their aggressive hazing

Theme: Gender Frank Merriwell is written to be the ideal– physically, culturally, and academically. The main conflict in the story is to prove masculinity, between Jack and Frank, and also with the sophomores. This contrasts the lack of representation of female characters within the story, showing their irrelevance in a collegiate society. The series was targeted toward a young male audience, posing Frank Merriwell as a role model for young boys throughout the nation.

Gender and The Dime Novel Within the Story: “Never had he looked handsomer in all his life then he did at that moment, stripped to the buff, his brown hair frowzled, his body glowing from the rubbing” (Chapter 4). “Between the ages of 16-23 blood runs hot and swift in the veins of a youth. It is then that [Frank Merriwell] will do many wild and reckless things– things which will cause him to stand appalled when he considers them in after years” (Chapter 9). Outside Sources: “...in the period 1896–1912 the group—collectively called “Merry’s flock”— constructed a literary sensation that “remade American boyhood for the twentieth century” (Anderson, 1). “’stories of upperclass schoolboys and heroic All-American detectives’ … the dime novel was turned into a nostalgic memory of our lost innocence, of some Republican Tom Sawyer” (Peck, 360).

Conclusions and Personal Opinions We were interested by the lack of female representation within the story and the intensity of male dominance between the characters. The dime novel itself lacks any illustration, but it is evident the cover page shows the aggressive need to establish dominance. The majority of male characters are superficial, posing no real complication within their own character– therefore their role as an ideal is superficial.

Works Cited Peck, David. “Mechanic Accents: Dime Novels and Working Class Culture in America.” Guilford Press, pp. 359–362. Anderson, Ryan k., and William F. Meehan III. “Frank Merriwell and the Fiction of All-American Boyhood: The Progressive Era Creation of the Schoolboy Sports Story .” University of Illinois Press, p. 99. 1866-1945, Standish Burt L. Frank Merriwell at Yale. 40th ed., vol. 1, Tip Top Weekly, 1897.