The Virginian (novel)

This page is about the novel, for other uses (including film adaptations) see The Virginian (disambiguation).

The Virginian
Author(s)	Owen Wister
Original title	The Virginian
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Western
Publisher	Macmillan
Publication date	1902
Media type	Print (Hardback and Paperback)
ISBN	NA
OCLC Number	65699996

The Virginian (otherwise titled The Virginian: A Horseman of the Plains) is a pioneering 1902 novel set in the Wild West by the American author Owen Wister. Describing the life of the foreman of the Shiloh Ranch in Wyoming, it was the first true western written, aside from the tiny dime novels. It paved the way for many more westerns by famous authors such as Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour, and several others.

Plot Summary

With Wister as the unnamed narrator, the book reflects Wister's strong reactions to his visit to Wyoming. Starting with the author's arrival in Medicine Bow, WY, the novel describes his encounters with the wild west. He makes friends with the strong-minded foreman of the Shiloh Ranch, and discovers the west to be very different from what he had thought. From that point onward, the novel revolves around the foreman, known only as the Virginian, and the life he lives. As well as describing the Virginian's conflict with his enemy, Trampas, and his romance with the pretty schoolteacher, Molly Stark Wood, Wister weaves a tale of action, violence, hate, revenge, love and friendship. Wister succeeds in making the Virginian a stern man with a soft side to his personality. The book contains many different stories throughout. In one scene, the Virginian must participate in the hanging of an admitted cattle thief, who had been his close friend. The hanging is represented as a necessary response to the government's corruption and lack of action, but the Virginian feels it to be a horrible duty. He is especially stricken by the bravery with which the thief faces his fate, and the heavy burden that the act places on his heart forms the emotional core of the story. A fatal shootout resolves the ongoing conflict with Trampas, after five years of hate. The Virginian shoots Trampas and leaves to marry his young bride. The next day, they ride off together into the mountains. The book ends with a short description of their later life, and exposition about the Virginian eventually becoming a great man and fathering several children.

Film Adaptions

• The Virginian (1914 film) directed by Cecil B. DeMille, with Dustin Farnum
• The Virginian (1923 film) with Kenneth Harlan and Florence Vidor
• The Virginian (1929 film) with Gary Cooper and Walter Huston
• The Virginian (1946 film) with Joel McCrea and Brian Donlevy
• The Virginian (1962 - 1971 TV Series) with James Drury and Doug McClure
• The Virginian (2000) (TV movie) with Bill Pullman and Diane Lane

References

• Graulich, Melody; Tatum, Stephen. Reading the Virginian in the New West. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2003. ISBN 0803271042

External links

• The Virginian at Project Gutenberg