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.