This book explores the importance of work and its role in defining and developing the self. Maibor reveals how the writings of Emerson, Hawthorne, and Alcott delve into notions of equality through this emphasis on labor. In doing so she challenges the traditional view of Emerson as unconcerned with societal issues, and opens the work of Hawthorne and Alcott to new feminist readings.

Carolyn R. Maibor has a background in both English and Philosophy, and received her Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Brandeis University. Currently an assistant Professor of English at Framingham State College, she has taught at the University of Montreal, Simmons College, and Brandeis University. She has published articles on Emerson's aesthetics.

CONTENTSIntroductionChapter One: The Working Self: Emerson's Theory of VocationDemocratic GeniusThe Division of LaborThoreau on the Division of LaborThe Value of WorkThe Individual and SocietyChapter Two: Working Girls: Female Self-Reliance and VocationChapter Three: The Work of the Dark Lady: Hawthorne on Vocation and WomenHester PrynneZenobiaChapter Four: Little Women and Working Girls: Louisa May Alcott on Women and WorkThe Civil WarMeaningful Work and Meaningful LivesFinding One's Job and Finding OneselfIndependenceNotesBibliographyIndex