Southern Methodist University SMU Scholar Graduate Liberal Studies Theses and Dissertations Graduate Liberal Studies Spring 5-17-2019 “Of Nobler Song Than Mine”: Social Justice in the Life, Times, and Writings of Fitz-James O'Brien John P. Irish Southern Methodist University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/simmons_gls_etds Part of the American Literature Commons, Intellectual History Commons, Social History Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation Irish, John P., "“Of Nobler Song Than Mine”: Social Justice in the Life, Times, and Writings of Fitz-James O'Brien" (2019). Graduate Liberal Studies Theses and Dissertations. 3. https://scholar.smu.edu/simmons_gls_etds/3 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Liberal Studies at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Liberal Studies Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. “OF NOBLER SONG THAN MINE”: SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE LIFE, TIMES, AND WRITINGS OF FITZ-JAMES O’BRIEN Approved by: ________________________________________ Dr. Bruce Levy Professor of English ________________________________________ Dr. Leroy Howe Emeriti Professor of Theology ________________________________________ Third Reader “OF NOBLER SONG THAN MINE”: SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE LIFE, TIMES, AND WRITINGS OF FITZ-JAMES O’BRIEN A Dissertation Presented to the Graduate Faculty of Simmons School of Education and Human Development Southern Methodist University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Liberal Studies by John P. Irish B.A., Political Science & Philosophy, Southern Methodist University M.A., Philosophy, University of Arkansas M.L.S., Humanities, Southern Methodist University May 6, 2019 Copyright (2019) John P. Irish All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank all of the following people, who have helped me along the way of this magnificent journey. Dr. Bruce Levy, for all his guidance and direction with this dissertation, as well as his agreeing to work with me and agreeing to serve as my main advisor. Dr. Leroy Howe, who has served as a mentor for me during the tenure of my time in the D.L.S. program and who agreed to serve as the secondary reader of my dissertation. Dr. John Mears, who encouraged me to think about different options for the topic of this dissertation. Dr. Carmen Smith, who encouraged me to think outside the box in life and worked with me on a very important Independent Study project as I finished my coursework. Dr. Gary Swaim, who gave me valuable advice on publishing. Professor John Lewis, who has seen me through my graduate time here at SMU for almost ten years. Bart Desender and Randall Foster, their friendships were forged in the beginning of the D.L.S. program and continue to this day. The administrators in Carroll ISD, who supported me in anything that I asked for. Rose Sommers and Kate Montgomery for all their kindness, support, and encouragement. Michele Mrak who has also encouraged me from the start of my journey in this outstanding graduate program. I remember writing to her and Dr. Brad Carter after the first day of class in my first course in the M.L.S. program and shared with them the warm excitement that I felt as I walked up the stairs of Dallas Hall for the first time in about twenty years. It was like a dream come true, I love SMU, and for that I am sorry that the journey is coming to an end. iv John P. Irish B.A., Political Science & Philosophy, Southern Methodist University, 1992 M.A., Philosophy, University of Arkansas, 1994 M.L.S., Southern Methodist University, 2015 “OF NOBLER SONG THAN MINE”: SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE LIFE, TIMES, AND WRITINGS OF FITZ-JAMES O’BRIEN Advisor: Dr. Bruce Levy Doctor of Liberal Studies conferred May 17, 2019 Dissertation completed May 5, 2019 This dissertation will be a detailed study of the life, times, and writings of a mid- nineteenth century Irish-American writer, Fitz-James O’Brien. This will be the first full length study of O’Brien’s thought and writings. O’Brien was known, during his day, for two different types of writing: fiction of the supernatural and his writings on social justice, written in the emerging style of literary realism. It is his writings on social justice which this dissertation will explore. O’Brien’s writings on social justice covered three main topics: children, women, and animals. I look at how the historical context, O’Brien’s life, and his writings intersected with each other. The goal of the dissertation is to make an argument that O’Brien’s writings, largely forgotten today, constitute a place in the history of American literature. v TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………...1 CHAPTER ONE………………………………………………………………………………....10 “Uttering the Cries of Freedom” — Two Crisis in Ireland CHAPTER TWO………………………………………………………………………………...31 “Wakened from thy Slumbers” — London Calling CHAPTER THREE……………………………………………………………………………...51 “He Writes for Bread” — Democratic Artist in the Literary Marketplace CHAPTER FOUR……………………………………………………………………………….89 “Methinks the poor do feign!” — O’Brien on Children CHAPTER FIVE……………………………………………………………………………….118 “Full of Hopeless Want” — O’Brien on Women CHAPTER SIX…………………………………………………………………………………147 “How have I sinned?” — O’Brien on Animals CHAPTER SEVEN…………………………………………………………………………….172 Fitz-James O’Brien “Hands in His Chips” CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………206 APPENDIX……………………………………………………………………………………..210 BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………251 vi DEDICATION First, to the first cohort in the D.L.S. program, you all challenged me and inspired me, thank you for your encouragement and support. Second, to my father; who always welcomed me over to his house, when things got stressful, so I could laugh, cry, and share and vent anything I felt. I am looking forward to our trip to Ireland in August of this year so that I can experience, first hand, the place that O’Brien came from and to get to hang out with my favorite person. Third, to my wife Elizabeth and our extended family, our pets: Tom, Nellie, Annie, and Teddy. I would not have been able to do any of this without them. I love them with all my heart and soul. vii INTRODUCTION This dissertation constitutes, to date, the first and only full-length study of the life, times, and writings of Fitz-James O’Brien and contends that O’Brien is unnecessarily ignored in the scholarship of nineteenth century America. With the emphasis on the issue of immigration in the current political and economic climate, it seems helpful to be reminded from time to time about the contributions that immigrants have actually made to the history of this country. O’Brien lived a short life; most estimates put his age between thirty-four and thirty-six. Unfortunately there is little known about his early life; in fact, there is little known about him before his arrival in America in 1852.1 Almost everything that we know about O’Brien today centers on his writings dealing with supernatural and gothic themes; he admired Edgar Allan Poe, and it was his goal to emulate him. Like Poe, his first publications were poems. None of these were supernatural in theme, but rather constituted some scathing attacks on the political and economic struggles that the Irish people were suffering during the middle part of the nineteenth century. It was really in London, however, in the late 1840s, in which O’Brien began experimenting with various types and different styles of writing. He began experimenting with short story fragments, novellas, poetry, and essays. But it was in America, as he continued to experiment, where he began to exhibit a real talent for writing. London was the first place in which O’Brien became a paid writer, but it was in America in which he became an artist – it was in America where O’Brien found his calling in the emerging literary marketplace. 1 His first biographer, Francis Wolle, placed the year of his birth in 1828. However, an argument has been made for a date which is two years earlier in 1826. 1 Before I began writing the dissertation, I engaged in a Herculean task. There have been some collections dedicated to the writings of O’Brien, beginning in 1881 up through the twenty- first century. However, most of these collections contain two flaws. First, most used the 1881 edition of his writings, collected and edited by his good friend William Winter. This collection, provided for the first time, a nice sampling of O’Brien’s stories and poetry; however, this edition suffered from a major editing flaw. The original texts were edited and modified, and as a result, Winter changed O’Brien’s original texts. Every edition of O’Brien’s works, following the Winter edition, replicated the Winter texts. Thus, these editions were not the original texts from O’Brien’s writings. One exception to this was the edition by Jessica Amanda Salmonson. Her collection of O’Brien’s writings was the first and only edition to draw directly from O’Brien’s original texts. The second flaw of O’Brien editions, after the Winter edition, focused exclusively on O’Brien’s supernatural and fantasy writings – and none of them included any of his poetry. To address these two oversights, I began a mammoth project of collecting and editing what I hoped would become the first multi-volume edition of O’Brien’s collected writings. This began in 2015 when I graduated from the Masters of Liberal Studies program at Southern Methodist University. The first two volumes of the edition were dedicated to his short stories. Every story identified by Francis Wolle was included in this collection, as well as other stories which I believe were written by O’Brien.