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LITR 5431 Seminar in American Literature:
Romanticism lecture notes |
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 Harriet Beecher Stowe |
Fuller (romance) 27 4, 7, 16 (limits), 25 (expansion), 27, 29
Fuller Historical
1
post-Revolutionary
2 the red man, the black man
3 Romanticism / Transcendentalism
Organic metaphor
4 all men equal as ideal, guide, golden certainty
28 negro / woman
One law for all souls
Fuller Formal / Transcendentalism
examples of formal study: gothic conventions, light / dark (relocatable to different historical circumstances)
3 Romanticism / Transcendentalism
Organic metaphor
4 all men equal as ideal, guide, golden certainty
Spheres as inherited / transformed form: 7, 16, 27
58 higher grade of marriage, the religious
63 obstructions removed
66 Trans
Reading notes:
1
post-Revolutionary
2 highlight promise of heaven
2 the red man, the black man
3 Romanticism / Transcendentalism
Organic metaphor
4 all men equal as ideal, guide, golden certainty
5 abolition + women
7 lower-font businessman
Correspondence of national union / family union
Sphere; cf head-heart in 8
8 Have you asked her?
Head of my house
16 model-woman, woman’s sphere
19 private action in woman’s favor > legal protection
20 infinite soul in limits (repression, captivity)
Publicly represented by women
21 private influence, pen
22 inner circle
24 Quaker preachers [preview Mott]
25 expansion
27 every arbitrary barrier thrown down
Regulate spheres > ravishing harmony
28 negro / woman
One law for all souls
31 temple of immortal intellect
32 self-dependence; cf. Emerson self-reliance; cf. 34
Faith and self-respect
40 sexes correspond + prophesy
46 equality
47 household partnership
49 intellectual companionship
50 Trans form
54
partners in work and
in life, sharing together, on equal terms, public and private interests
58 higher grade of marriage, the religious
63 obstructions removed
66 Trans
67 old maids
69-72 alternative genders, extended family relations
79 great radical dualism
82 Trans form: too much in relations, renovating fountains
Celibacy
88 men do not look at both sides; women retire within
themselves
90 woman belongs to man instead of forming a whole with him
Lamplighter notes
1.1 Gothic
1.2 city of strangers; motherless child
1.11 class difference indicated by language
1.13 star as transcendent symbol—Romantic as out
there and in here
1.18 league of children against her
Mother tried to keep her away from rude herd (class
differences)
1.26
Her little, fierce, untamed, impetuous nature had
hitherto expressed itself only in angry passion, sullen obstinacy, and
hatred. But there were in her soul fountains of warm affection, a depth
of tenderness never yet called out, and a warmth and devotion of nature
that wanted only an object upon which to expend themselves.
2.10 organ-grinder (city detail)
2.11 death of kitten
2.49 True from country, moves to city
2.52 Tears are in TF’s eyes
Wide Wide World
Sentiment & sentimentality:
what reactions to scenes
of tears? everyday life?
power of lost parent, different from Oedipal-male pattern
relational psychology of women, based on mother-daughter connection?
LL 1.2 city of strangers; motherless child
WWW 2.5 deformed child, lost mother
WWW 6.32 uncontrollable weeping
WWW 6.40
Ellen's
off–that's one good thing
Romanticism
LL 1.28
Her little, fierce, untamed, impetuous nature had
hitherto expressed itself only in angry passion, sullen obstinacy, and
hatred. But there were in her soul fountains of warm affection, a depth
of tenderness never yet called out, and a warmth and devotion of nature
that wanted only an object upon which to expend themselves.
LL 2.52 Tears are in TF’s eyes
WWW 5.110 romantic themes of chivalry and honor
WWW 10.23 nature looks friendly
WWW 10.28 rough silverware
WWW 10.35 plunged into the mire
WWW 10.72
I wish there was somebody here that I could love, but there is not.
WWW 11.79-81 Fortune strange to live alone, without help
WWW 11.116-7 pleasant to live in the country > hateful
WWW 15.18 passions always extreme
WWW 15.47 want to be a Christian but I am not
WWW 15.79
sublime (following closeness to God)
Realism
LL 1.11 class difference indicated by language
LL 2.10 organ-grinder (city detail)
LL 2.49 True from country, moves to city
WWW 1.1, 1.13 lawsuit
WWW 2.53, 2.56 etc—aunt in small country town [extended
family]
WWW 10.97 has to make her own bed
Romance
WWW 5.18 skill and experience necessary for a shopper
WWW 5.29
romance quest
WWW 39.93 Pilgrim’s Progress
WWW 42.1 Pilgrim’s Progress
Lamplighter notes
LL 1.1 Gothic
LL 1.2 city of strangers; motherless child
LL 1.11 class difference indicated by language
LL 1.13 star as transcendent symbol—Romantic as out
there and in here
LL 1.18 league of children against her
LL Mother tried to keep her away from rude herd (class
differences)
LL 1.28
Her little, fierce, untamed, impetuous nature had
hitherto expressed itself only in angry passion, sullen obstinacy, and
hatred. But there were in her soul fountains of warm affection, a depth
of tenderness never yet called out, and a warmth and devotion of nature
that wanted only an object upon which to expend themselves.
LL 2.10 organ-grinder (city detail)
LL 2.11 death of kitten
LL 2.49 True from country, moves to city
LL 2.52 Tears are in TF’s eyes
Wide Wide World
(chapters 1, 2, 5, 6, 10, 15)
Mixing of religion with class, manners, courtship,
nature
WWW 1.7 the lamplighter
WWW 1.1, 1.13 lawsuit
WWW 1.16 earthly father, heavenly Father
WWW .27 leave me, Mother?
WWW 2.3 realism ugly city prospect of back walls of houses, with the yards belonging to them, and a bit of narrow street.
WWW 2.4 compassionate nature
WWW 2.5 deformed child, lost mother
WWW 2.21 clouds, sky > Him who made it [compatibility of
Romanticism & sacred world]
WWW 2.42 Dr. Green: wine or novel 52.106
WWW 2.53, 2.56 etc—aunt in small country town [extended
family]
WWW 2.81 country beautiful and healthy
WWW 2.90 correspondence?
WWW 2.94 Captain away
WWW 5.18 skill and experience necessary for a shopper
WWW 5.29
romance quest
WWW 5.31 [city of strangers]
WWW 5.43 bold, ill-bred
WWW 5.75 gentleman > tears
WWW 5.76 are these your manners?
WWW 5.87 deceptive clerk
WWW 5.99 revenge
WWW 5.110 romantic themes of chivalry and honor
WWW 5.133 black man with a brace of woodcocks [servant?]
WWW 5.139 Sam [another black servant?]
WWW 5.151 dishonorable?
WWW 6.3 Captain unconscious, incapable of sympathizing
WWW 6.24-5 Mother sympathizes, Ellen x-father
WWW 6.32 uncontrollable weeping
WWW 6.40
Ellen's
off–that's one good thing
WWW 10.4 how to wash?
WWW 10.5 too busy
WWW 10.18 back to her work
WWW 10.23 nature looks friendly
WWW 10.28 rough silverware
WWW 10.35 plunged into the mire
WWW 10.39 staring up at the moon and stars
WWW 10.56 mocking reprimands
WWW 10.67 correspondence?
WWW 10.72
I wish there was somebody here that I could love, but there is not.
WWW 10.88 You wash! I didn’t think of you doing it!
WWW 10.97 has to make her own bed
WWW 11.2
WWW 11.8 searching stare
WWW 11.14 lives up on the mountain yonder
WWW 11.22 Van Brunt sympathizes with oxen
WWW 11.36 give me a kiss
WWW 11.45 laugh, look, tone stung > prayed
WWW 11.46 resentment not all gone
WWW 11.79-81 Fortune strange to live alone, without help
WWW 11.86 Aunt Fortune’s oxen
WWW 11.92-4 open woodland, beautiful, what?
WWW 11.116-7 pleasant to live in the country > hateful
WWW 12.23 Miss Alice
WWW 12.35 kittens
WWW 15.15 lover of nature
WWW 15.17 her own heart sadly out of tune
WWW 15.18 passions always extreme
WWW 15.22 water to her eyes again
WWW 15.36
WWW 15.44 meant to be good
WWW 15.47 want to be a Christian but I am not
WWW 5.63 pray together now?
WWW 15.79
sublime (following closeness to God)
WWW 15.82 my father preaches there
WWW 15.98
all
things mend with your own mending
WWW 15.117 well-bred
WWW 16.1 correspondence
WWW 16.5 not forgiven aunt fortune
WWW 16.65 conscience
WWW 16.76 root of evil in her own heart
WWW 16.77 romanticized domestic scene
WWW 16.85 a view
WWW 16.88 picturesque?
WWW 16.91
WWW 16.95 brick walls and paving stones
WWW 16.103 décor
WWW 16.128 hatred of Fortune
WWW 16.138 acknowledge yourself at fault
WWW 16.153 some pride there yet
WWW 16.162 pleasant, neat kitchen
WWW 16.168 think cakes were made without hands?
WWW 16.171 Mamma never kept house
WWW 16.185 my brother Jack
WWW
17.17 literacy
and grammar as class markers
WWW 17.37 (wide wide world—geography)
WWW 17.66 English born
WWW 17.87 say what you mean exactly
WWW 17.117 Fortune display of energy no call for
WWW 17.124 Fortune’s grievance
WWW 17.174 strong passion, strong pride
WWW 39.15 literary talk
WWW 39.26 correspondence b/w scripture and heart
WWW 39.73 a long ladder of knowledge
WWW 39.76 delight + improvement (John)
WWW 39.93 Pilgrim’s Progress
WWW 42.1 Pilgrim’s Progress
WWW 52.23 Byronic?
WWW 52.36 Ellen’s maturity
WWW 52.39 wept
WWW 52.76 grown, not the child
WWW 52.96 correspondence
WWW 52.106 read no novels [cf. Dr. Green in ch 1]
WWW 52.116-118 Van Brunt a Christian
WWW 52.149 manners
WWW 52.161 good came out of evil
WWW 52.169 organic metaphor
domestic sentimentality
1.19
one of those wild, grotesque songs common
among the negroes
1.78
a woman of high class, both intellectually and
morally
1.78 [woman’s influence]
4.2 domesticity in slave cabin
4.78 Tom as Patriarch
13.65 everything went on so sociably, so quietly, so harmoniously, in the great kitchen
36.28 Legree dreams of mother
40.19 improvised family
civil disobedience?
7.39-40 passive resistance, non-compliance
[7.51]
"Pray for them that
'spitefully use you, the good book says," says Tom.
7.68 Mrs. Shelby's passive resistance
9.23 It's a shameful, wicked, abominable law, and I'll break it, for one, the first time I get a chance
36.64 did only what thought was right
40.43
O, Mas'r! don't bring this great sin on your soul! It will hurt you more than 't will me!
40.53 I forgive ye
How might Stowe's appeal be both Transcendental and Evangelical?
Transcendental
9.115 trans form + narrative
Evangelical
1.8 Tom got religion
1.10
'I trust you, because I think you're a
Christian
4.78 prayer, enriched with the language of Scripture, which seemed so entirely to have wrought itself into his being
[9.25] "Now, John, I don't know anything about politics, but I can read my Bible; and there I see that I must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and comfort the desolate; and that Bible I mean to follow." (cf. Levi Coffin )
13.1 quaker domestic utopia
Eliza and child received on equality as family
13.52 love thy neighbor
13.68 first time that ever George had sat down on equal terms at any white man's table
13.69 living gospel
How might her style be both Romantic and Realistic?
Romantic
9.34-5 reason, x-reason (Romanticism)
13.63 dreamed of a beautiful country
14.18 perfection of childish beauty
marked her out from other children (cf. Wolfe in Life in the Iron Mills)
Realistic
4.3 realistic details
9.121 realistic detail
How did Stowe become (in Lincoln's words) "the little lady who started this big war"? (i.e., the Civil War) What strategies does she use to make white readers sympathize? What does fiction achieve that the slave narratives did not? (For example, her absorption of historical materials like slave narratives or Levi Coffin's Reminiscences.)
How does Stowe manage the sexual nature of slavery for women like Eliza, Cassy, & Emmeline?
1.26 young quadroon woman
1.32 "I don't want to make my fortune on her,"
What qualities distinguish Stowe's style as a great writer?
1.53 'Tan't, you know, as if it was white folks, that's brought up in the way of 'spectin' to keep their children and wives, and all that. Niggers, you know, that's fetched up properly, ha'n't no kind of 'spectations of no kind; so all these things comes easier."
1.78
a woman of high class, both intellectually and morally36.74 Cassy's touch recalls dream of mother
7.107 narrative
9.115 trans form + narrative
UTC
1.2 class distinctions
1.4 ? "That is the way I should arrange the matter," said Mr.
Shelby.
1.8 Tom got religion
1.10
'I trust you, because I think you're a
Christian
1.14 only hard
necessity makes me willing to sell
1.19
one of those wild, grotesque songs common
among the negroes
1.26 young quadroon woman
1.32 "I don't want to make my fortune on her,"
1.41 I'm a humane man
1.44
These critters ain't like white folks, you
know; they gets over things, only manage right.
1.44, 1.46 humane, humanity
1.51 a little humanity
1.53
'Tan't, you know, as if it was white folks,
that's brought up in the way of 'spectin' to keep their children and wives, and
all that. Niggers, you know, that's fetched up properly, ha'n't no kind of
'spectations of no kind; so all these things comes easier."
1.61 So much
for being in debt,—heigho! The fellow sees his advantage, and means to push it."
1.62
no heavier counterpoise than the interests of
the helpless and unprotected.
1.63 shadow of law
1.63 humans as things
1.64 speculated largely and quite loosely
1.78
a woman of high class, both intellectually and
morally
1.78 [woman’s influence]
4.2 domesticity in slave cabin
4.3 realistic details
4.8 large, broadchested, powerfully-made man, of a full glossy black, and a face whose truly African features
4.9 mas'r George
4.78 Tom as Patriarch
prayer, enriched with the language of Scripture, which seemed so entirely to have wrought itself into his being
7.3 stronger than all was maternal love
7.5 your Harry, mother, or your Willie?
7.12 sublime
7.39-40 passive resistance, non-compliance
[7.51]
"Pray for them that
'spitefully use you, the good book says," says Tom.
7.68 Mrs. Shelby's passive resistance
7.102-105 cf. minstrel show, two black crows, cf. Greek comedy of clever slaves
7.107 narrative
7.114 you've got a little boy
7.117 large white house
7.134 shouts of laughter
9.10-11 Christian legislature? v. woman
9.23 It's a shameful, wicked, abominable law, and I'll break it, for one, the first time I get a chance
9.25 cf. Levi Coffin
9.34-5 reason, x-reason (Romanticism)
9.38 Eliza
9.39 hands as class marker
9.51 Senator breaks own law
9.80 have you ever lost a child?
9.106 your heart is better than your head (Romanticism)
9.108 O mother that reads this!
9.115 trans form + narrative
9.121 realistic detail
9.129 John Van Trompe
9.136 sexual nature of women's slavery
13.1 quaker domestic utopia
Eliza and child received on equality as family
13.52 love thy neighbor
13.63 dreamed of a beautiful country
13.64 harmoniously
13.65 everything went on so sociably, so quietly, so harmoniously, in the great kitchen
13.68 first time that ever George had sat down on equal terms at any white man's table
13.69 living gospel
14.2 headlong tide of business
14.11 Tom can't write
14.18 perfection of childish beauty
marked her out from other children (cf. Wolfe in Life in the Iron Mills)
14.47 religion a scarce article at our house
36.16 drink as desensitizing to horrors of slavery
36.20 no end to the curse
36.28 Legree dreams of mother
36.40 woman's tact
36.64 did only what thought was right
36.74 Cassy's touch recalls dream of mother
40.14
"O, great Almighty God! we are
all sinners; but what have
we done, more than all
the rest of the world, that we should be treated so?"
40.19 improvised family
40.36 Speak!
40.43 O, Mas'r! don't bring this great sin on your soul! It will hurt you more than 't will me!
40.53 I forgive ye
40.65 cf. Christ w/ 2 thieves
evangelical literature
challenge: characters must be redeemed > problem of villains (e.g., Nancy Vawse)
(Stowe solves it by showing Simon Legree and other villains in grips of slavery's lust for economic and sexual power)
challenge: church choirs and evangelical TV/radio "let anybody sing" (talented or not) b/c "the message is good"
How to distinguish quality when the message concerns God's unlimited love and inclusion?
Implicit: secular society is meritocratic--based on merit or "what you bring to the table"
