Gertrude Stein

Paper Summary:

This paper presents a brief biography of Gertrude Stein and examines her life and work. It begins by describing her education and the people that are said to have mostly influenced her career path. It then discusses her meeting of Alice Toklas and the eventual long-term lesbian relationship of the two. The writer looks at how her controversial and unique style of writing was influenced by her alternative personal life.

From the Paper:

"It is difficult to think of 1920's Paris without recalling Gertrude Stein. A friend to some of the most prominent artists and writers of the 20th century, Stein is not only known for her own accomplished writing contributions, but also for her personal lifestyle. Gertrude Stein was born in 1874 near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She attended Radcliffe from 1893-1897, where she was a student of William James. One day Stein wrote, "Dear Professor James, I am sorry but really I do not feel a bit like an examination paper in philosophy today" the next day James send her a postcard saying "I understand perfectly how you feel, I often feel like that myself," and then he gave her the highest mark in his course (World pg). She then began premedical work at Johns Hopkins. In 1902, she decided to take a break from her studies, and went abroad, finally joining her brother Leo in Paris at 27 Rue de Fleurus in 1903. Stein would not touch American soil again for thirty years. She once said, "I have lived half my life in Paris, not the half that made me but the half in which I made what I made" (World pg)."

More papers on Gertrude Stein:

• Term Paper # 127687 : "Gertrude Stein's Prose"
• Essay # 88828 : "Gertrude Stein and Literary Form"
• Analytical Essay # 66981 : "Self-Writing and Gertrude Stein"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: