This bachelor thesis focuses on the portrayal of the American West in the selected short stories of Bret Harte. Prior to the analysis, historical background concerning the Gold Rush is provided. The significance of Gold Rush and the life of new settlers in the mining communities and the diggings together with methods of mining are presented in the first part of the paper. The second part provides an analysis of Bret Harte's short stories, namely "The Outcasts of Poker Flat", "Tennessee's Partner" and "The Idyl of Red Gulch" with attention to the romanticized characters and the setting that is examined from two perspectives; as an element affecting the characters' destiny and an element that is personified.
