A Translation of “The Rose”, a Short Story by Harriet Prescott Spofford
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26512/belasinfieis.v14.n1.2025.57157Keywords:
Harriet Prescott Spofford. “The Rose”. Literary translation. American literature. Short story.Abstract
This paper presents a translation into Brazilian Portuguese of the short story “The Rose,” by American writer Harriet Prescott Spofford, originally published in Harper's Magazine in 1912. In the short story, Aimée, a young orphan who had developed an obsession with flowers, specifically roses, is convicted of stealing roses from a garden, and receives the compassion of the inmates during her stay in prison. In the end, upon leaving prison, Aimée decides what to do with her life. It is interesting to note the contrast created with such a sweet and gentle heroine (embodied by the rose) in the heart of the hostile environment of a women’s prison. Even though the inmates had a transgressive behavior, they play a protective role towards the newcomer, which can be read as the expectation of maintaining what is expected of a woman in the society at that time – and which is, in the end, challenged by Aimée. Apparently, “A Rosa”, the translation presented in this paper, is the first one of Spofford’s “The Rose” into Brazilian Portuguese.
References
Durrans, S. (2019). Introduction. Harriet Prescott Spofford: The Home, the Nation, and the Wilderness. European Journal of American Studies, 14(3), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.4000/ejas.14880
Maine Women Writers Collection (n.d.). Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford Collection. Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford Collection, 1891-2004. www.une.edu/sites/default/files/harrietelizabethprescottspoffordcollection.pdf
Pepper, H. M. (1990). The New Woman: Images of Women in the Short Stories of Harriet Prescott Spofford. State University of New York, Department of English.
Rafter, N. H. (1985). Partial Justice: Women in State Prisons, 1800-1935. Northeastern University Press.
Spofford, H. E. P. (1912). The Rose, by Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford. Harper’s Magazine. harpers.org/archive/1912/10/the-rose/
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