LITR 4232 American Renaissance UHCL 2004 Student Presentation

LITR 4232:
American Renaissance
UHCL
fall 2004
Student Presentation

Tuesday, September 21, 2004: Sarah Margaret Fuller (introduction 1626-28); from Women in the Nineteenth Century, 1631-1641; Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 2038-44.

Reader: Melanie Braselton

Objective 2

To study the contemporaneous movement of “Romanticism”, the narrative genre of "romance” and the related styles of the “gothic” and “the sublime”. The focus will be on the romantic and the sublime.

“The Romantic”

The writings of the women involved in the Women’s Rights Movement processed an aura of “the romantic”. The reason for this is the fact that women who supported women’s rights could be looked at as “knights”, waiting to rescue their peers, the “damsels in distress.”

Example

“The general discontent…the chaotic conditions which fell…the weary, anxious look of the majority of women impressed me with a strong feeling that some active measures should be taken to remedy the wrongs of society in general and of women in particular.”

The Sublime

The sublime can be found in the newness of the idea of women’s rights – this is a new idea, it is untried and sounds good but is a scary step to take. “There is something strange and incomprehensible about the unknown”.

Example

“If I had had the slightest premonition of all that was to follow that Convention, I fear I should not have had the courage to risk it!”

Question: Can you think of any current issues that evoke such a powerful feeling of uncertainty in their reception by others (your peers)?

Summary

Women writers advocating their rights can be compared to “knights”, embarking on a journey into the unknown—just like King Arthur as he pulled Excalibur from the stone, these women were dreaming of their form of Camelot. Unleashing a new force into society, these women (knights) would help rescue their fellow “damsels in distress” and their dreams would be achieved. With their extreme dedication and desire to obtain their goals, they heroically believed that “anything is possible”.

Along with the idea of romanticism, I also saw the sublime in these women and their writings. Equality would be serious business. To be liberated and equal looked wonderful but the consequences for many women could prove to be as dangerous as standing on the proverbial “precipice” of that mountain we have discussed in class—the view may be beautiful, but it could also be dangerous or fatal. Different consequences existed for different women—alienation in the family and community, being labeled as a bad wife or unfit mother. Equality could be a double edged sword in that as much as it may liberate, it could also prove to be a bad choice for women who were not as educated as Ms. Stanton. These women would have to accept more responsibility but would have less “protection” under their husbands. Stepping into a new world with new rules could be a very “edgy” affair.

Objective 3

To use literature as a basis for discussing representative problems and subjects of American culture (new historicism), such as equality; race, gender, class, modernization and tradition; the family; the individual and the community; nature; the writer’s conflicted presence in an anti-intellectual society. I am focusing on all of the bolded subjects.

Reference our reading from Heath, pp. 2040, (From Eighty Years and More…Reminiscences), by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In this short reading, Mrs. Stanton writes and touches upon nearly every subject mentioned in Objective 3.

Equality	pg.2041	“My experience at the World’s Anti-slavery Convention, all I had read of the legal status of women and the oppression I saw everywhere, swept across my soul, intensified now by many personal experiences.”
Race	pg.2042	“The anti-slavery papers stood by us manfully and so did Frederick Douglass.”
Class	pg.2041	“There I met several members of different families of Friends, earnest, thoughtful women.”
Community	pg.2040	“I had books, but no stimulating companionship.”
Gender	pg.2041	“The general discontent I felt with woman’s portion As wife, mother, housekeeper, physician and spiritual guide, the chaotic conditions into which everything fell without her constant supervision and the worried, anxious look of the majority of women impressed me with a strong feeling that some active measures should be taken to remedy the wrongs of society.”
The Family and Tradition	pg. 2041	“I now fully understand the practical difficulties most women contend with in the isolated households and the impossibility of woman’s best development if in contrast, the chief part of her life, with servants and children.”
Modernization and Nature/Land	pg.2041	“Fourier’s phalansteric community life and co-operative households had a new significance for me.”
Writers conflicted Presence in anti-intellectual society	ref. previous present- ation	In Laurie Eckhart’s spring 2003 presentation she argues that it is very difficult to wage an intellectual battle-especially “on a field that not only questions your right to be present, but also scorns your ability to think.”

Question:

Considering how many of the issues Mrs. Stanton addressed in such a short piece of writing, are these still issues today? Are they strictly women’s issues or do they cross the boundaries into other areas such as race?

Summary: It is amazing that so many social questions, feelings and thoughts could be found in such a short piece of writing, but Mrs. Stanton seems to have touched on each one in a very meaningful manner.