Fanny Fern: Breaking the barrier for Women

In “The Scribbling Woman and Fanny Fern: Why Women Wrote Ann D. Wood made it conscious to the public that women writers were existent and that women wrote because writing was a form of expression for them and in some cases if they were to succeed help them economically. One of the many reasons why Ruth Hall was so famous in the 19th Century was because she was able to write about the struggles that many women had to overcome.

As I was doing research on my paper it became evident to me that during this time men felt threatened by women’s writings because women tended to focus issues that affected them as women and they took a more realistic approach in their writings. It was fascinating and at the same time shocking to find that men were harshly critical towards women. For example, Hawthorne stated that “Fanny Fern” writes as if the devil was in her and he went on to say that, that is the only condition under which a woman ever writes anything worth reading. I just couldn’t make sense of why men didn’t want to welcome women into the literary world.

The Hidden Agendas of Female Authors

Ann Douglas Wood's essay "The Scribbling Woman and Fanny Fern: Why Women Wrote" discusses why various women writers published work during the ninteenth century- a time when society demanded women be confined to domestic duties and childcare.

Many female authors were in fact widows, or otherwise disadvantaged by the lack of a male supporter, but still tried desperately to maintain their "femininity." They made excuses for why they must work and tirelessly worked to maintain their delicacy by apologizing and justifying through religion and family.

Fern was significant because she made no apologies for her opinions and beliefs.

Fern essentially argues that women needed to write in order to maintain their sanity and survive. They needed a creative outlet beyond cooking and cleaning that allowed for self-expression.

Fern did not necessarily become a writer by choice- originally it was a way for her and her daughters to survive. She therefore felt no guilt or remorse for her work, despite its harsh stance on male roles in society, because she believed that if men wanted their women to be frail and dependent then they should take care of them- if not how could they expect women to not turn into an independent and resourceful person like Ruth Hall?

Scribbling Women and the Feminine Ideal

Ann D. Wood explores, among other topics, the role of women as writers in 19th century society’s constraints in “The “Scribbling Women” and Fanny Fern: Why Women Wrote.” Using a quote from Nathaniel Hawthorne as a jumping off point, she maps the complexities of women writing in a man’s world. There are acknowledged parameters in the society and then more hidden, nuanced rules for expression that affect the way women wrote. Connecting this to “The Female Woman: Fanny Fern and the Form of Sentiment” by Lauren Berlant shows the gender stereotypes women were laboring under and what effect these stereotypes had on their writing and their ability to capitalize on that endeavor. I found the many undercurrents in sentiment of the time fascinating, and attempt to show their interplay through the various ways in which they surface in Fanny Fern’s Ruth Hall: A Domestic Tale of the Present.

How a woman got away with writing in the 19th century

In the American Quarterly article “The “Scribbling Women” and Fanny Fern: Why Women Wrote” Ann D. Wood examines the selective hypocrisy of a literature audience that allowed the publication of female writers only on the condition that it be only a side project to those writers. The publication of Ruth Hall is notable precisely because it flies in the face of that convention – in fact, it examines the circumstances that often caused women to write, in an exacting and unforgiving manner. Thus the book was not well received in its time.

I was more personally fascinated by the utter denial in which males and other females received a female's work. Anyone who was female and wrote 1) couldn't be doing it for money 2) could really only be doing it "accidentally" 3) couldn't threaten a male writer, of course and 4) should remind her readers often of her domestic priorities. If a female were allowed to break this convention, she would then only be 1) crazy 2) consumptive 3) exotic or 4) utterly tormented.

The Empowered Woman

I looked at Lauren Berlant's criticism "The Female Woman: Fanny Fern and the Form of Sentiment" and what her interpretation of Fanny Fern's ideas were. Berlant suggested that Fern was trying to create a new breed of women, who thought differently and redefined their roles in society. This new idea of gender and "owning oneself" led to an article by Gale Temple which developed a clear picture of the once patriarichal community that women were forced to live in and endure the oppressive behavior that males inflicted. Berlant's article then compared the issue of race and the issue of "owning oneself" and the capitalistic identity which it holds allowing for exploration of "fraught individualism" experienced by both Ruth and Fernin comparison to "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl".

Fanny Fern Stands Alone

I did research involving Fanny Fern and her role in writing at that time. I started out by reading "The Scribbling Woman and Fanny Fern: Why Women Wrote", then I did additional research involving "Fanny Fern", by Barbara A. White. Through these sources I found the two voice method Fanny used to change or at least question the role women played in writing, and the standards in which they had to abide by. Fanny stood alone as the only women willing to break the mold and find her own voice, or combination of two, to raise questions as to why women are held to certain standards of genteelness. Why do they have to be feeble, and doubtful? Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of few writers who, at the time, saw the need for women to be set free in their writing. Fanny was the initial spark that changed the view of the "feminine genius" forever.

Valentine's Day Special: Four Links and One Print Reference

Lauren Berlant. “The Female Woman: Fanny Fern and the Form of Sentiment.”
American Literary History, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Autumn, 1991), pp. 429-454.

Richard H. Brodhead. “Veiled Ladies: Toward a History of Antebellum Entertainment.”
American Literary History, Vol. 1, No. 2. (Summer, 1989), pp. 273-294.

Joanne Dobson. “Reclaiming Sentimental Literature.” American Literature, Vol. 69, No. 2 (Jun., 1997), pp. 263-288

Stephen Hartnett. “Fanny Fern’s 1855 Ruth Hall, the Cheerful Brutality of Capitalism, & the Irony of Sentimental Rhetoric.” Quarterly Journal of Speech, 88, (2002), 1-18.

Ann D. Wood. “The ‘Scribbling Women’ and Fanny Fern: Why Women Wrote.”
American Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 1 (Spring, 1971), pp. 3-24.

The Origins of The Bosom Serpent

While the tale of the Bosom Serpent may simply be read as a metaphor for sin within the conscience or heart of man, Hawthorne's statement at the beginning of the tale lends to the fact that cases of snakes within the stomach or bosom were seen in newspapers, magazine articles, and other literary sources before Hawthorne's story was conceived. Nonliterary sources from legitimate magazines such as the New-England Magazine and the Universalist newspaper the Olive Branch report occurrences where citizens have reportedly ejected snakes and eels from their stomachs. While these may well be folkloric beliefs, they could still be the source of Hawthorne’s Egotism. Another more likely source is that from Puritan priests that speak of metaphors of snakes within ones bosom to depict the guilt of man’s soul. These sources prove that the origins of The Bosom Serpent may not have been from Hawthorne’s own imagination but from the abundance of “bosom serpents” seen in the newspapers, magazines, and sermons of his time.

Rappaccini's Daughter: An allegory of science

Rappaccini’s Daughter has been the subject of critical disagreement for quite some time. While critics (e.g. Oliver Evans and Edward Rosenberry) typically maintain that the meaning of the story is to be found in its use of allegory, the allegorical identities of its central characters are hardly clear. Oliver Evans argues for the predominance of religious symbolism in Hawthorne’s tale, positing that the relationships of its central characters are meant to retell the biblical stories of Adam and Eve. Other critics (namely, Rosenberry and McCabe) argue that the narrative structure of Rappaccini’s Daughter does not befit religious allegory; indeed, that the narrative centrality of Giovanni highlights his actions as Hawthorne’s primary moral vehicle. As a religious allegory, Hawthorne’s tale proves to be unbearably convoluted and fraught with inconsistencies. On the other hand, an interpretation of Rappaccini’s Daughter on scientific terms yields a much more manageable—much less convoluted—message: that the pursuit of God-like power through science will always end in disaster.

Hollingsworth reflects the thoughts of Emerson

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Man the Reformer” heavily reflected the views of the members of the Blithedale commune, especially Hollingsworth. Emerson’s essay espoused the philosophies of the Transcendentalist movement, which sought to reform society and highlight the importance of the individual as opposed to the organization. Emerson’s essay specifically targeted the lack of independent farming and self-subsistence during the middle 18th century. This lack of self-reliance, in Emerson’s view, would weaken his generation of men. His disdain for man’s growing inability to plant one’s own crops through the use of one’s own hands and tools was made evident during the middle part of the essay.
This philosophy was reflected in the goals of the characters in the Blithedale Romance, but Hollingsworth was the clear Transcendentalist. Some characters, like Coverdale or Silas, seemed to lack a deeper commitment towards the uplifting of the individual. Others, such as Zenobia or Priscilla, seemed to have shallower convictions for the commune. Hollingsworth not only worked hard for the commune, but also dreamed of reforming criminals at Blithedale, which reflect the idealistic goals of Transcendentalism.

The Importance of 19th Century Transcendentalism

Nathaniel Hawthorne uses his own personal experiences at Brook Farm for the basis of the novel "The Blithedale Romance." The foundation of both Brook Farm and the fictional Blithedale are the principles and values of transcendentalism. Transcendentalim was a new set of ideas in literature, religion, culture, and philosophy that were formed as a protest against the general state of culture and society at that time. Louisa May Alcott was also a strong follower of transcendentalism and was a resident of Fruitlands, another Utopian-like society at that time. From her stay at Fruitlands, Alcott published "Transcendental Wild Oats." The formation of these societies and the transcendental basis of these societies created a new era of literature and culture. Nathaniel Hawthorne and transcendentalism had a huge impact on the society and culture of the 19th century.

The Blithedale Romance: Hawthorne is Coverdale

Nathaniel Hawthorne's “The Blithedale Romance”, is the first person narration of a man set upon joining a world that has no need of him by imposing an absolute order upon his reality. Based on his own experiences at the utopian Brook Farm during the 1840s, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote “The Blithedale Romance” in order to demonstrate the inadequacy of much of the Transcendentalist’s beliefs. Miles Coverdale will often exaggerate about the negative qualities that he sees in people that live with him. In fact, he seems to have an aptness for picking out those qualities and constantly dwelling on them. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Miles Coverdale as a disguise to show his own dissatisfaction with the negativity of the people who lived at Brook Farm. Many critics, among others, believe that the fictional Coverdale is really a representation of Hawthorne himself. Coverdale’s weaknesses are how Hawthorne saw his own weaknesses. One of those primary weaknesses must surely be that he exaggerated both good and bad at Blithedale, and had a negative opinion of the experiment from the beginning. Nathaniel Hawthorne seems to be making fun of himself by making Miles Coverdale an equivocating poet who really has little interest in anything and survives primarily all by himself.

Characters of the Transcendentalist Utopia

Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay "Man the Reformer" (1841) proposes transcendentalist ideals in hopes of transforming a "common and mean" existence into an improved society founded upon the principals of education and labor for the betterment of all.  Many of Emerson's ideas created the basis for Brook Farm, the Utopian community Hawthorne writes about in The Blithedale Romance (1852).   A cross examination of these texts reveals both Hawthorne's skepticism and support for the foundations of the transcendentalist Utopia.  This essay identifies and examines the characters discussed in Emerson's essay and the manner in which Hawthorne's approaches these character types in Blithedale.  The characters include: Coverdale "The artist", Hollingsworth "The reformer," Silas Foster "The laborer," Zenobia "The selfish one" and Priscilla "The provided for."

Dreams in The Blithedale Romance

Principle in understanding Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Blithedale Romance must be a discussion of Miles Coverdale’s dreams regarding the other characters in the narrative. As many critics have noted, Hawthorne makes use of dreams as means to an understanding of that which is hidden in the world in many of his works, and the dream is “the point of view essential for reading Hawthorne”. In The Blithedale Romance, the dream is chiefly employed as a means to discovery and wish fulfillment in Miles Coverdale’s life, particularly in regard to his sexual attraction to Zenobia, and possibly to Hollingsworth. By the use of the dream as a literary device, Hawthorne gives us as readers access to information that would have either been impractical or improper due to social standards at the time to give us explicitly, and lets us know what is really happening with Miles Coverdale in The Blithedale Romance.

-Rob DiMarco

Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Blithedale Romance"

Nathaniel Hawthorne has become one of the more influential writers in American history since his death. The achievement of his writing abilities can be traced back to a time when he lived in a "utopian" society with many of the other influential authors of the mid-19th century. This "utopian" society was named Brook Farm. Hawthorne tended to use many real life situations and events to model much of his writing after. A few examples of this can be found in his novel, The Blithedale Romance as well as in some of his other works. Hawthorne molds the character Zenobia around the story and sentiments of his friend Margaret Fuller, uses Brook Farm’s masquerade picnic as a model for a chapter in Blithedale Romance, and relied on his personal experiences from his time spent at Brook Farm with other influential writers of his time to get ideas, themes, and characters for his stories.

Antebellum Abstracts

The purpose of this blog site is to establish a listing of resources for the research of American literary texts published between 1845 and 1855, focusing in particular on the following representative narratives from the period:

Fanny Fern - Ruth Hall
Nathaniel Hawthorne - The Blithedale Romance
Johnson Jones Hooper - Adventures of Captain Simon Suggs
Herman Melville - Moby Dick
Harriet Beecher Stowe - Uncle Tom's Cabin
Henry David Thoreau - Walden

Each of the abstracts listed below summarizes research involving a cluster of topically associated primary or secondary sources related to one of the texts listed above. The relavance of these materials to a fuller understanding of these works is outlined in the abstracts. Interpretive analysis applying insights gained from the research to specific aspects of the texts is also provided.