SOURCE: "The Daring Gift in Ellen Glasgow's 'Dare's Gift'," in Studies in Short Fiction, Vol. 21, No. 2, Spring, 1984, pp. 95-102.

In the following analysis of "Dare's Gift, " Carpenter sees the story as not merely a tale of the supernatural but as an exploration of one woman 's struggle to express her independence and individuality.

In addition to her novels, Ellen Glasgow wrote short fiction, including several tales of the supernatural which appear in The Shadowy Third and Other Stories. These stories have won little critical scrutiny and less praise; their dismissal by many Glasgow critics suggests consensus with Frederick P. W. McDowell's argument that the stories lack subtlety, that they treat the occult "Too baldly and literally."¹ However, a closer look at one of these stories, "Dare's Gift," will reveal a work as complex on a small scale as the epic novels so widely admired.

At first glance, "Dare's...