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In all cases we have filmed the best available copy. University Microfilms International 300 N. ZEEB RD„ ANN ARBOR, Ml 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1315997 I GCIBRECHT, LARRY EDWARD 1 NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS : IN SEARCH OF THE | SUBURBAN IDEAL. ) UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE (W INTERTHUR PROGRAM), M.A. i 1980 University ! Microfilms International 300 N. ZEEB RD., ANN ARBOR, Ml 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS: IN SEARCH OF THE SUBURBAN IDEAL BY Larry Edward Gobrecht A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Early American Culture. May, 1980 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS: IN SEARCH OP THE SUBURBAN IDEAL b BY Larry Edward Gobrecht Approved: \CUUU t. G'C.oHZj Cp&ities C. Curtis, Ph.D. Professor in charge of thesis on behalf of Itt/e Advisory Committee Approved: Stteepphhaar:VLeG.SVg-jpC^CMe., Wolf,'Ph.D. Coordinator, Winterthur Program in Early American Culture Approved: R.B. Murray, Ph.D University Coordi for Graduate Studies Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OP CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER I THE CREATION OF A CULTURAL COMMENTATOR: 1827-1836 6 CHAPTER II A RURAL EXPERIMENT: 1836-1846 23 CHAPTER III NEW YORK CITY AND THE WORLD OF FASHION: 1846-1852 36 CHAPTER IV THE SUBURB FOUND AND EXPLAINED: 1852-1867 56 CONCLUSION 72 BIBLIOGRAPHY 78 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INTRODUCTION While Americans of the ante-bellum era (1830-1860) made great advances in the areas of economic growth, tech­ nology, and territorial advantage, the growing complexity of the post-colonial culture brought new problems. Literature of the period often reveals concern about the breakdown of rural culture and the family unit, and the rise of technol­ ogy and urban centered living.^ Rapid economic growth bene- fitted many Americans, but much of the newly acquired wealth 2 was concentrated among the few. These changes created varying degrees of ambivalence and confusion in the minds of many Americans about their social roles, their personal and national identities, and their collective destiny. Many Americans chose to ignore or push aside these issues and continued to be intrigued with more pleasant thoughts about their economic potential, their vast re­ sources, and their unique chance to start a new society without the baggage of the Old World. Yet despite contin­ ued faith in the ability of the democratic system to deal with growing economic inequalities and despite an almost 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 religious belief in the infinite capacity of the land and the western frontier to release them from the pressures of problematic growth, many Americans became increasingly un­ comfortable with certain aspects of their chosen destiny. There was a growing awareness that rapid change, large and varied ethnic immigration, quickly acquired fortunes, and the intensified democratic rhetoric brought direct chal­ lenges to the comfortable social stability of the older colonial culture. In many cases, as recent scholarship has 3 shown, these challenges were met with conservative reaction. Furthermore, such reaction came not only from the franchised but also from the traditionally liberal artistic and intel­ lectual communities. The idea of an American artistic, literary and in­ tellectual "community" was a new one for most Americans of the period as such men were usually Americans who had become "Europeanized" by their training. But along with other pa­ triotic ideas came the notion that Americans should call upon their own artists and thinkers, not only to answer esoteric questions about artistic or literary theory, but also to deal with questions of proper life style, social behavior, and appropriate aspirations for Americans in need of "good mod­ els." To further complicate matters, artists and writers were themselves experiencing a material success that altered Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3 their own position in society and created new questions about their own role and identity. As a result, "the need for definition-- of social class, nationality, skill— emerged as the clearest artistic problem" for artists of 4 the period. This essay concerns the particular reaction of one member of this group: Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806-1867). Perhaps more than any other writer of his day, Willis worked out this artistic and personal dilemma in full view of the American reading public. The major concern in the chapters that follow is with the biography of a set of ideas and atti­ tudes that Willis proffered to help Americans deal with their changing culture. Willis's response is particularly impor­ tant, not because it was unique or because he was the first with such attitudes, but because it was widely disseminated and appreciated by silent Americans who saw his views as rep­ resentative of their own unarticulated beliefs, desires, and aspirations. Willis created a popular literature and a highly visible personal life style that provided models of social behavior and good taste. It was Willis's particular interest in the symbolic values of the external world of fashion and taste that has made his prose a rich source for the analysis of the function, meaning, and importance cer­ tain aspects of the material world had for Americans of that Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 4 era. Because of the clear connections between Willis's social and aesthetic thought and the events of his personal and professional development, this essay has taken on a loosely biographical format. Nevertheless, the real focus is on a particular response to American life by one who pre­ sumed to live intently and critically in an age of bravado and confusion. Hence, the major episodes in Willis's life are intimately and intricately tied to the events of the era, and the biographical framework provided is designed to bring about a balance between Willis's personal and artistic growth and the larger cultural changes of the period. Ultimately, I believe, the pattern of Willis's life can be seen in part as a reflection of the cultural dilemma many Americans faced during that period. But here, however, I am more concerned with the process by which one man came to deal with the par­ ticular issues of class and taste and with his use of the tools of fashion to help establish social distinctions. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. FOOTNOTES: INTRODUCTION ■^Leo Marx, The Machine in the Garden (New York: Oxford University Press, 1964). 2 Edward Pessen, Riches, Class and Power Before the Civil War (Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1973) , pp. 31-43. 2 Edward Pessen, Jacksonian America: Society, Personality and Politics (Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press, 1969). ^Neil Harris, The Artist in American Society; The Forma­ tive Yc-'v.-s, 1790-1860 (New York: George Braziller, 1966) , p . 229 . Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER I THE CREATION OF A CULTURAL COMMENTATOR: