SOME REPRESENTATIONS OF THE AMERICAN FLAPPER IN AMERICAN FICTION AND DRAMA
SOME REPRESENTATIONS OF THE AMERICAN FLAPPER IN AMERICAN FICTION AND DRAMA

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with the changes the American society witnessed in the twenties concerning economic development, woman emancipation, mentality and lifestyles.The development of a new bold unconventional pattern of life,behaviour,attitude,speech and appearance represented by the American ‚” flapper”- could not be ignored or considered unimportant since they seriously affected the whole society. As a natural consequence of the new frame of mind and reference generated by the feminist movement American women got not only more economic freedom and financial independence, but also more sexual freedom culminating in a new conception of marriage. That led to an increase in the divorce rate, and more liberal divorce laws. Such changes penetrated deeply and spread widely through the social structure of the nation finally altering it in a number of aspects. The former scale of values definitely turned upside down and ‘volensnolens’ a new set of norms replaced the old ones favouring the appearance of a new era whose effects proved to be long lasting . The ‘flapper’s popularity increased in the United States due to her portraying in films,literature and painting sometimes with open admiration and sympathy,some other times with irony and contempt.American writers like F.Scott Fitzgerald and Anita Loos as well as illustrators such as Russell Patterson,John Held Jr.,Ethel Hays and Faith Burrows also played a definite part in popularizing her.

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