LITR 5535 American Romanticism UHCL 2003 student reading presentation

LITR 5535: American Romanticism

Student Presentation on Reading Selections, fall 2003

In his list of “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offences” Twain focuses mostly on inaccuracies or affronts to realism. Perhaps it’s worthwhile to note that he didn’t choose to attack a Romantic poet. The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms tells us that The Realistic Period in American lit was “a high-water mark for the novel” (400). Somewhere in the Norton anthology I believe Cooper is compared to the English poet Scott rather than to another novelist. I don’t think we would find his excesses so objectionable in poetry.

I think we’re working here under Objective 1a, describing and evaluating Romantic genres. I went looking in the Bedford for “Romance narrative” or “Romance novel” and what I came up with was the entry for “romance.” The relevant part of the definition: a work of fiction “involving some combination of the following: high adventure, thwarted love, mysterious circumstances, arduous quests, and improbable triumphs” (414). These certainly apply to The Last of the Mohicans. (I even expected the group to triumph at the waterfall/island – but I guess we wouldn’t have much of a story without the capture and rescue.) The entry for “romance” goes on to talk about the evolution of the term, and how it’s come to mean any work where love is part of the plot and improbable things happen. We use “Romance” rather pejoratively to refer to novels of mostly questionable merit usually grouped in a certain section of the bookstore. Perhaps we find it difficult to appreciate works like Cooper’s because of where the genre has gone since then.

In spite of Twain’s recriminations and our own potential resistance to this genre, we still find reasons to read Cooper. I think one of the reasons involves the “co-emergence and shared identity of ‘America’ and ‘Romanticism.’” We’re working under Objective 2 now, second bullet. From the syllabus: “Romanticism and American culture develop individualism, sentimental nature, rebellion, equality, and desire-and-loss in parallel.” Those are things that develop simultaneously in American culture as well as in Romantic literature. I thought we might try to trace a few of these in Last of the Mohicans and see how much these characteristics have developed or if they’re truly present in Cooper’s writing. I worked a little bit with individualism and a little bit with the notion of equality. We can branch out from there.

Individualism – so far I see glimpses of this in the characters of Cora and Hawk-eye. I keep wanting to see it in Uncas, as he’s the title character and this special person, the last of his entire tribe.

The question we should examine is whether Cooper is really tapping into some individualistic spirit that goes hand-in-hand with American ideals or just creating slightly interesting characters.

Equality – the main thing I’m inclined to do here is look at the attitudes about Native Americans that show up in the novel.

p. 30 Hawkeye says Chingachgook has reason “even if he is red-skinned” – is this condescending?

p. 37 Good Indian/Bad Indian dichotomy that Cooper sets up about the Mohicans and the Hurons

p. 103 conversation between Cora and Magua about justice and blame – here Cooper seems to almost redeem himself by having Cora be unable to defend what her father did; she seems to see the Indian point of view

Ashley’s question: Of the five general characteristics of Romanticism, which elements apply to Cooper and American Romanticism?
Dr. White: Sentimentalism…the idealized…escape.
Ashley: Gothic elements include the chivalric as seen Duncan Heywood.
Kristi: Also Cora and Alice.
Simone: Hawkeye, a rebel, resists both worlds.
Dr. White: Magua, the antagonist…easy to overlook his qualities. A Byronic hero, hides his physical scars. Satan in Milton’s Paradise Lost provides a model for Magua.
Ashley: Cooper’s impact colored by Mark Twain’s criticism. Cooper’s writing flawed by inaccuracies. Cooper compared to Sir Walter Scott. Compare with Blake. Would Cooper be less objectionable if a poet?
Holly: Yes. Novel’s setting, word choice are poetic, an expression of ideas.
Ashley: Poets take liberties – poetic license. Cooper still read today. America is Romanticism – obj. 2.2. Natural setting – wilderness, frontier, individualism, equality, sentimentalism, desire and loss, rebellion reinforce this idea.
Dr. White: Equality issue. Cooper creates characters who continue to live in the population.
Rosalyn: No real equality. White superiority in Hawkeye.
Dr. White: Cooper assigns Hawkeye gifted characteristics. Modernism reflects equal but different. In Romanticism, Indians can scalp and take revenge; Whites can’t scalp or take revenge. Cooper talks about the river in a romantic way; Heywood…a reasoned account.
Rosalyn: Cooper is condescending to the Indians, patronizing, treating them like children.
Dr. White: Equality…the frontier acts as an equalizer, allowing the opportunity for people to prove themselves. Sports functions the same way in today’s society.
Sawsan: The river is corrupted by civilization. According to Twain, Cooper gives misleading information about the river.
Dr. White: Twain was limited by what he knew. He produced a smaller amount of quality literature. Cooper produced more. The differences between Realism and Romanticism = the differences between experience and imagination.
Ashley: Gender and inequality are seen in Alice (simpering) and Cora (magnificent).
Charley: Cora is of mixed blood…she has all the gumption.
Kristi: Women are all different, can’t really stereotype.
Dr. White: Same thing with David.
Ashley: There are references to the “fair lady” and “dark lady” in Cooper.
Dr. White: Cooper presents a pattern of the “fair lady”/”dark lady.”
Charley: See the same in Deerslayer in regard to women.
Yvonne: The frontier requires a new kind of woman. Cooper advocates this in his representation of Cora.