3) Midterms (Handwritten Notes for Comments)

English 2130 Fall 06 Lesson Plan October 2, 2006 ______1) Attendance 2) Welcome

3) Midterms (handwritten notes for comments)

4) Fanny Fern:

a. Women’s literature in America before Fanny Fern: what is the tradition? i. Captivity Narratives 1. First prose genre in American literature in which women could publish 1. First English-language text: Mary Rowlandson’s Narrative of the Captivity and Restauration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson (published: Boston and London, 1682) a. Experience related supposed to demonstrate woman’s devotion to God and perseverance in face of adversity b. Emphasis on didactic, religious purpose and effect c. Still: fact that women published was deemed dangerous; thus: frequent framing by male voices; Rowlandson: preface by Puritan minister Increase Mather and afterword by Rowlandson’s husband (also a minister) d. Communal/cultural use of women’s captivity narrative: i. Capture of white, English women by Indians (the racial other) served as justification for further warfare and racial prejudice ii. Narratives serving ministers to enforce teachings about God’s power (the title really starts with “The Sovereignty and Goodness of God”) iii. Also: portraying the virtue of Puritan women iv. Thus: women’s strength and power a synecdoche for the entire community

e. But: textual and cultural ambiguities/disjunctions: i. “Sympathy for the Devil” 2

1. captivity experience among the racial “other” allows women to identify or even sympathize with the supposed enemy (cf: Cabeza de Vaca) 2. Most risqué: certain freedoms in Indian society, as well as the general crossing of boundaries (spatial, cultural, social) allow women to reevaluate their position in their own society: often realization of the “captive” state of white women in their patriarchal societies THUS: emergence of the captivity narrative (actual and fictive) as a genre in which women had the opportunity to publish in a male literary world and to probe the limits placed on them by their own societies

2. POETRY: a. Anne Bradstreet, The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America (1650) i. First book of poetry published by a woman in America ii. Traditionally regarded as the ancestor of the women’s tradition in American poetry, especially as predecessor of Emily Dickinson iii. Bradstreet’s poetry particularly noted by critics today for her subtle and complex portrayal of her inner struggle with Puritan doctrine; especially: her poetical debates over the merit of deferring all happiness and pleasure to the afterlife vs. relishing the here and now 1. her poems about nature as her preferred mode of revelation (seems to have meant more to her as evidence of God’s grace than the Bible or minister’s preaching) 2. her questioning of God’s justice (poems about the deaths of several grandchildren) 3. her life-long questioning of her state of salvation

3. The Sentimental Novel/The Novel of Seduction 3

a. Genre established by British novelists, such as Oliver Goldsmith, Samuel Richardson (Pamela and Clarissa), and Laurence Stern b. Emphasis on the tribulations and of sentimental characters, i.e. individuals (male or female) who embody the sentimental ideal, i.e. the power to empathize with the suffering and trials of fellow human beings; famous phenomenon of the sentimental novel: an overflowing of tears c. Precursor of the romantic hero: sentimental heroes live and die in response to their emotions and higher ideals, rather than the guidelines of reason, religion, or tradition d. Thus: sentimental novels deemed dangerous by religious and political establishment in Britain and America e. Genre flourished from the mid 18th to the early 19th century; mid to late 19th century examples are often dime novels simply following the patter or parodying the genre

Subgenre: the novel of seduction - usually focusing on the work of a rake seducing young, sentimental, naïve women who have already been seduced by sentimental ideas and especially the sentimental fiction of the time - in America: sentimental novels warning that virtue must prevail for American women to raise a virtuous citizenry Women novelists of the sentimental tradition:

- Susanna Rowson, Charlotte Temple

- Hannah Webster Foster, The Coquette

 walking a fine line between: 4

o warning young women of temptations of being overly sentimental, while, as examples of that genre, evincing a sentimental reaction from their readers for the fate of female protagonists o the problem of the “fallen woman” . Charlotte Temple . Eliza Wharton  Usually, seduced, eloped, pregnant, and dead  Critical question: how do these novelists simultaneously advise women to abide by the rules of society (i.e. walk on the path of virtue), while also indicting those rules as inherently privileging patriarchal society?

- important as precursors of female novelists of the mid- nineteenth century, such as Fanny Fern!

Historical Novel:

4. Lydia Maria Child, Hobomok 5. Catherine Maria Sedgwick, Hope Leslie a. They actually precede Hawthorne with their attention to Puritan times b. Also: they inspect the relevance of the Puritan heritage for their own times; especially in probing where American society is coming from and where it is heading c. They particularly probe or question the dominance of women in Puritan society and the seamless translation of that domination to the early Republic/early national era

The Sentimental Novel in the 19th century:

- often used as a simplified formula for quick sellers - Question: How does Fanny Fern undermine some of the stock traits of the genre, especially women’s fiction:

- especially: o vicissitudes of the “marriage market” o the seduction and downfall of the sentimental protagonist 5

o FALLEN WOMAN: flaunting advice by family and friends to pursue her own pleasure o Usual development: independence is a dangerous trajectory that usually gets women shunned by society, pregnant, ostracized, and dead on the streets . Readers are supposed to empathize with this fate but themselves make a “better” decision o virtue rewarded, vice punished o the trope of the happy marriage as a shelter and haven for the sentimental woman o OVERLY DIDACTIC o LANGUAGE: . Antiquated, even for its time . Flowery images and metaphors . Many direct addresses to the reader, asking them to sympathize or learn from the example of the fallen or virtuous woman . Eliciting sentimental reactions from the reader

Question: how does Fanny Fern’s book depart from this pattern?

o CULT OF TRUE WOMANHOOD: . Woman’s place in the home with children . To provide a secure and warm and loving environment or shelter for the husband from the vicissitudes of the world . “angel of the home” . No aspirations beyond the domestic sphere .

Biography: Fanny Fern (Sara Willis Parton) (NB: I will always refer to her as Fanny Fern, as she preferred to be called by her pen name!)

- 1811-1872 - Parents: very different personalities o Father: devout Calvinist minister who preached the doctrine of a harsh, punishing God o Mother: more cheerful and lighthearted who did not necessarily adhered to her husband’s doctrine; Fanny admired her and looked to her for inspiration o Fanny was the fifth of nine children o Nathaniel Parker Willis: himself became a writer and powerful publisher - after family moved to Boston, Fanny was sent to two boarding schools because her father was concerned about her free spirit 6

- one of them: Hartford Female Seminary, run by Catherine Beecher and her sister Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin - they could “tame” Fanny, but later remembered her as a remarkable but mischievous child - return to her family; doing some writing and some editing for her father’s newspaper - marriage: to Charles Harrington Eldredge, a banker, in 1837 o though marriage between them seemed happy, tragedy quickly followed . death of first daughter and a year later death of her husband - her husband’s death leaving Fanny financially destitute! - Husband left her with debt - She entered into an ugly battle between her father and her in-laws over how much money each side could afford to secure her and her two remaining children - 1849: she agrees to marry Deacon Nathaniel Willis purely for financial reasons - She married him even though she professed not to love him - Important: in 1851, Fanny leaves her husband, who starts to spread rumors about her and immediately starts divorce proceedings on the grounds of desertion - Women leaving their husbands in 19th century extremely rare occurrence, and almost universally frowned upon o Very few opportunities for women to earn a living

- her family was completely embarrassed by her move and gave her no more support - she had to allow her younger daughter grace to live with her first husband’s parents, who didn’t treat the child well - Fanny and her older daughter, Ellen, lived in poverty, with Fanny trying to support them as a seamstress - 1851: she begins writing newspaper articles, most of them biting satires on the social conditions and politics of the time - She sends some samples to her brother Nathaniel, who had helped other women by publishing their work in his Home Journal, o => refused to publish Fanny’s work, citing the nature and subject matter of her work (and probably still shunning her choice to leave her husband) - now she adopted her pen name “Fanny Fern” - paid very poorly at the beginning of her journalistic career - her articles gain recognition, many of them pirated with out pay - one editor for her brother, James Parton, begins publishing her work, which leads to Fanny’s brother firing him from his job! - 1852: a NY periodical, Musical World and Times, offers Fanny a regular column with double the pay compared to her work for two newspapers before 7

- Thus: Fern became the first American woman with a regular column in a newspaper/periodical o Fern moves to New York City - 1853: a collection of her columns published as Fern Leaves from Fanny’s Portfolio o she wisely chose to receive royalty payments rather than a lump sum up front, because the book was a best-seller in the US and in England

- two more similar collections published - she can establish a comfortable life and get her daughter Grace back - Fern gets a contract to publish a novel, Ruth Hall, which is published in 1855 (about 5 years after The Scarlet Letter) - Obviously: strongly autobiographical - Her true identity discovered by a former employer who noticed being portrayed very unfavorably (William U. Moulton, editor of The Flag, who was also angered over losing her as a contributor) - He was bent on destroying her reputation o He and other critics attacked her book as being unwomanly . “abominable” . “monstrous” . “overflowing with an unfemininely bitter wrath and spite” - novel became a “roman a clef,” with everyone trying to figure out actual identities of people in the story (a novel in which actual persons are presented under the guise of fiction; “clef” means “key” in this case)

- 1856: begins writing for the New York Ledger, and becomes the highest paid newspaper writer at the time in America

- She marries James Parton (1856), her brother’s former employee

- Fern and Parton sign a prenuptial agreement that made it clear that her property and her earnings were only hers and would revert to the ownership of her children upon her death

- Again: this action was unheard of at the time

- Second novel: Rose Clark (1856)

- Continues writing her newspaper column until her death from cancer in 1872; in fact, she hid her illness from others and her last columns were written so close to her death that they were published posthumously!

Critical Reception at the time: - even her severest critics acknowledged her writing skills 8

- speculation over whether the pseudonym was actually adopted by a clever man trying to profit from the popularity of women’s fiction and the publicity - Hawthorne (in a letter to his own publisher, shortly after publication of Ruth Hall) o Quote: “I have since been reading ‘Ruth Hall’: and I must say I enjoyed it a good deal. The woman writes as if the devil was in her; and that is the only condition under which a woman ever writes anything worth reading. Generally women write like emasculated men, and are only distinguished from male authors by greater feebleness and folly; but when they throw off the restraints of decency, and come before the public stark naked, as it were—then their books are sure to possess character and value.” o Discuss: this may be more of a comment on the restraints placed on women than on women’s capabilities! (although it is still chauvinistic!)

- she remained popular throughout the 19th century - many 20th century critics have dismissed her simply because she was a popular writer and financially successful one

Newer critical interests: - focusing on the theme of financial independence in a male dominated world - revision of the traditional marriage or seduction plots - writing style: differing from male and female contemporaries o compare to Scarlet Letter!

QUESTIONS FOR NEXT TIME: - Can you identify any developments in the novel; e.g. from sentimental to realism, from the ideal of “true womanhood” to female independence, etc.? - How does she undermine o Social conventions o Literary conventions? . Narrative structure . Language (word choice, syntax, etc.) . Themes . Character development . Description . Metaphors/symbolism

Think about the use of SATIRE:

Definition of Satire: 9

- a literary work or manner of writing that mixes biting criticism with humor and wit for improving human conditions or institutions - “Satirists attempt through laughter not so much to tear down as to inspire a remodeling.” o Simply abuse: INVECTIVE o More cynical and personal attacks: SARCASM o Sad and morose: JEREMIAD - thus: modern satire supposed to attack general conditions, groups, etc. over individuals

Question: What mode does Fanny Fern follow?