In On Tarzan, Alex Vernon covers everything from what he himself calls “the ‘juvenile’ nature of the Tarzan narratives,” to, “the post-Darwin idea of adolescence, and the massive turn-of-the-century influx of immigrants that also informed its reception.” Echoing Kasson’s point, Michael Kimmel, is his book Manhood in America, discusses the story’s consumption as required proof of masculinity in the early twentieth century. Helen Franks in Goodbye Tarzan: Men after Feminism uses the character and his ubiquity as a template in her book analyzing attitudes of men toward feminism. In her book Gone Primitive (1990) Marianna Torgovnick asks her readers to “take Tarzan seriously” as an indication of our fascination with the primitive, and she spends a good deal of time discussing the character’s-and therefore the writers’-attitudes towards black Africans and women in the stories. This was important as twentieth-century men responded to modernity and the lack of frontier-style challenges. Kasson includes Tarzan in his list of “perfect men” that provided a way for men to participate vicariously in adventure.

For example, In Houdini, Tarzan and the Perfect Man (2001), John F. There has also been a good deal of academic scholarship analyzing different aspects of the character and the reasons the character, and his storylines, seem to resonate with so many. There are countless books, films, comics and television series based on the character produced by Burroughs himself and many others. in 1914 and has been republished numerous times. Burroughs first novel starring the character, Tarzan of the Apes, was published by Chicago’s A. The fictional character of Tarzan emerged in popular culture with articles Edgar Rice Burroughs published in All-Story Magazine in 1912. Tarzan’s stories embody the beliefs about human nature that vary widely from hisĮarly twentieth century emergence to his 1984 appearance.

Houdini tarzan and the perfect man