50 pages • 1 hour read
Sweetbitter
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Background
Literary Context: Bildungsroman
Sweetbitter is a bildungsroman. It is a female coming-of-age story in which the main protagonist, Tess, forms her identity and changes with time and experience.
A bildungsroman is a type of novel in which the main character undergoes significant moral and psychological development as they come of age. Sweetbitter is a bildungsroman because Tess’s morals, identity, and psychology develop throughout the story. She starts off as a young, naïve girl eager to throw herself into life’s experiences. At the start of the story, Tess is easily influenced by others because she doesn’t have autonomy. Working at the restaurant, however, toughens Tess up, and engaging in emotionally toxic relationships with both Simone and Jake teaches Tess what she doesn’t want out of life. At the end of the novel, Tess has developed into a wiser, more mature, more confident young woman with a strong sense of self.
The bildungsroman is a popular genre. Many classic examples of canonical literature are studies on an individual’s growth. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger (1951) is a bildungsroman about a boy who walks around Plus, gain access to 8,650+ more expert-written Study Guides. Including features:
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