Department of English and American Studies First Ladies
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Masaryk University Faculty of Arts Department of English and American Studies English Language and Literature Pavla Wernerová First Ladies in Film and Literature Master’s Diploma Thesis Supervisor: Jeff Smith, M.A., Ph. D. 2018 I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. …………………………………………….. Author’s signature Table of Contents Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 2 1 First Ladies and Their History ....................................................................................... 8 1.1 Development of the Title ........................................................................................ 8 1.2 First Ladies and Their Influence ........................................................................... 11 1.3 Phases in the Depictions of First Ladies ............................................................... 18 2 First Phase: Show Your Weakness .............................................................................. 21 2.1 Love Affairs, Emotional and Dependency Issues ................................................. 24 2.2 Other Issues ........................................................................................................... 34 3 Second Phase: You Can’t Have It All ......................................................................... 37 3.1 Give It Up Or Lose Completely: The First Archetype .......................................... 41 3.2 Good Girl: The Second Archetype ........................................................................ 51 4 Third Phase: Can I Have It All? ................................................................................... 59 4.1 I Can Be Without You ........................................................................................... 64 4.2 Let’s Be Equal ....................................................................................................... 69 4.3 More Powerful ...................................................................................................... 80 4.4 I Am Here For You ............................................................................................... 93 4.5 We Almost Had the First First Gentleman ............................................................ 98 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 102 Works Cited .................................................................................................................. 104 English Summary .......................................................................................................... 116 Resumé .......................................................................................................................... 117 1 Introduction The role and position of First Ladies have significantly changed when taking into account what position the wives of the presidents had at the beginning of the history of the US and what position they have now. Even though the official title First Lady originated much later than people usually think, First Ladies now play a crucial role in American society. They influence public opinion and fashion, and usually aim to inspire American citizens by their own agendas. Especially with the recent presidential campaign of former First Lady Hillary Clinton, the position and power of First Ladies have become much more prominent. Even though even in the past, there were some powerful First Ladies, few would have imagined that any First Lady would run for president. However, there were some powerful First Ladies even before Hillary Clinton. Among them was Edith Wilson, who was a highly controversial figure during her time. As Sharon Creeden writes, “in the 1990s, some bumper stickers read IMPEACH HILLARY. In 1919, some bumper stickers –had they existed in those days– might have read IMPEACH EDITH. Edith Bolling Wilson, after all, actually did run the country” (28). When Woodrow Wilson suffered from a minor stroke in 1919, “for several days”, he “paced in pain, unable to work. Then he collapsed with a massive stroke” (Creeden 29). Because the president was unable to work on state affairs on his own, his wife Edith “organized the White House into a hospital” and started taking care of him while taking care of the state affairs (Creeden 29). Apart from Edith Wilson, there were several other powerful First Ladies such as Eleanor Roosevelt who during her terms as the First Lady focused on several issues such as “progressive advocacy policy, the media, education, and women’s issues” (“First Lady Biography: Eleanor Roosevelt”). She was also active in writing and public 2 speaking and she frequently appeared in various broadcasts on the radio and wrote several books. Her career did not end with her role of the First Lady: after her three terms, she was designated by President Truman “to serve as the only woman among the five American delegates to the newly-created United Nations in December of 1945” (“First Lady Biography: Eleanor Roosevelt”). It is also important to mention Jacqueline Kennedy who was “instrumental in defining and portraying an emerging American style” (Mulvagh). She also appeared on TV when she “agreed to conduct a televised tour of the Executive Manson for CBS Television on February 14, 1962” (“Jacqueline Kennedy in the White House”). Her tour “was so well received that the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded Mrs. Kennedy an honorary Emmy Award for her achievement” (“Jacqueline Kennedy in the White House”). Apart from the achievements of First Ladies, there were also some controversies surrounding them. Among them, there was Nancy Reagan’s interest in astrology which after a consultation with an astrologer “influenced the scheduling of important events” (Roberts). Even though there were several controversies related to First Ladies, these powerful First Ladies definitely helped to shape the position of First Lady in a way we know it today. Even though during the 20th century, First Ladies were becoming much more powerful, they were not often represented in films or books. Although there were some works featuring First Ladies such as films Wilson or Sunrise at Campobello or a novel The President’s Lady by Irving Stone, it was not until the late 1970s that the works where First Ladies played important roles became much more mainstream. Even though the Presidents of the United States have always been popular characters in many films and books, with First Ladies, it was slightly different. Although they often appeared in the same films and books with the presidents, they often played marginal roles 3 or were completely omitted. Because of that, until the late 1970s, it is hard to see any regular patterns in their depiction. However, starting from the late 1970s, more and more books and films have been produced depicting the lives of First Ladies where the role of presidents is diminished and serves only as a background, and First Ladies assume the main role. With the increasing depiction of First Ladies in popular movies and books, we can see some phases based on the way First Ladies were depicted. From the late 1970s up to the present, in the depiction of First Ladies there emerged three major phases (see table 1). The first phase, from the late 1970s to the beginning of the 1990s, can be seen as a period in which works of popular culture stressed First Ladies’ weaknesses. Significant problems for the First Ladies in these works included alcohol abuse, emotional problems, and their husbands’ extramarital affairs. Works in the first phase presented First Ladies as similar to ordinary people, with problems that are basically the same. Depictions of First Ladies from the second phase, the 1990s, present us with two basic archetypes. The first one of them is a character of a powerful, ambitious First Lady who is independent and sometimes more powerful than her husband. However, in the works which were released during this phase, the characters matching this archetype are strongly punished for their too powerful role, for example by death. The second archetype is a character of a gentle, family-oriented First Lady who is devoted to her husband and her family while having no serious ambition. While in most of the works, characters of First Ladies only represent one of these archetypes, sometimes, it is possible to see a combination of these two, depending on the situation. 4 The third phase can be marked from the beginning of the 21st century up to the present. In this phase, both of the previously mentioned archetypes can be spotted, even though there is a slight change in the depiction of the powerful ambitious archetype of First Lady. While in the previous period, the character matching this archetype was quite often punished, now, becoming powerful is perceived as an advantage and something desirable. During this period, empowerment of women is gaining more prominence and it is reflected in the works featuring First Ladies. Both of these archetypes seem to be blending together during this phase in several works, which is meant to demonstrate that it is possible to have it all: a happy family and a successful career. Also, during this phase the archetype of a powerful First Lady is much more common. These three phases have been reflecting their periods. Usually some of the real First Ladies served as inspiration