I think a recurring question that I found myself asking when looking for texts was: Does becoming who you are require leaving behind who you were? When considering to analyze this text, I am interested in what happens when intelligence no longer confers social power, how an outsider learns the "language" of belonging, and the tensions that divide education, assimilation, class, sexuality, and the mind/body divide. What consistently draws my interest in Charlotte's narrative is her metamorphosis after she arrives at Dupont. Her journey begins with a solid self-concept: she perceives herself as brilliant and distinct from her peers. She envisions Dupont as a place where those attributes will ultimately help her feel a sense of belonging. Instead, she finds herself in a setting where intellect seems to have unexpectedly little social value. Other forms of power, such as wealth, social conduct, appearance, popularity, and sexual expertise, frequently hold significant power.
What remains unclear to me is how I understand Charlotte's transformation by the end of the novel. Is she genuinely maturing, or is she merely enhancing her ability to perform the traits the Duponts value? I am particularly interested in the novel's potential to challenge the conventional notion of "coming of age". Charlotte acquires a very specific type of knowledge, but most of her education is unrelated to what happens in the classroom. She learns from people how to dress, drink, and flirt. I want to think about whether this "social education" should be understood as development, degradation, assimilation, or a combination of the three.
Two theoretical frameworks that could support me in addressing my questions about Charlotte's changing identity are Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble and Pierre Bourdieu’s “The Forms of Capital.” Butler’s theory of gender performativity could help me think about the ways Charlotte learns to perform a particular version of femininity at Dupont, especially as she becomes increasingly aware of expectations surrounding her appearance, sexuality, and behavior. Instead of supposing that there is an "authentic" Charlotte who is simply corrupted by college, Butler could help me examine if identity is perpetually shaped by recurrent behaviors and societal expectations. Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital could similarly help me understand Charlotte’s position as an outsider within an elite university. Despite her considerable academic accomplishments, she is deficient in social awareness and cultural nuances that appear to come instinctively to many of her wealthier classmates. Analyzing Butler and Bourdieu together could help me explore Charlotte's transformation process of learning and acquiring the gendered and class-based expressions of belonging. These theories might ultimately help me answer one of my central questions: does Charlotte genuinely transform her identity at Dupont, or does she merely enhance her ability to perform the persona that her new social environment rewards?