I. Print revolution
- Proliferation of cheap print materials
- Prior to 1750s
- Reading was primarily for edification and religious instruction
- Bibles, devotional works
- After the 1750s
- Growing number of works of various kinds: histories, biographies, travel literature, novels
- More democratic, less didactic relationship between readers and writers
- “Gentle reader…”
- “Gentle reader…”
II. Closing of the “literacy gap”
- 1780: Number of women who could write was about half that of men
- 1850: Federal census found little difference in male/female literacy rates
- Biggest gains probably occurred between 1790 and 1830
III. Women’s reading
- Gradually gains more legitimacy in the second half of the 18th century
- Previously, anything but Bible reading tended to be associated with idleness
- Reading remained a highly collective practice
- Exchanging books, reading aloud, etc.
- Reading had transformative potential
IV. Sentimental novels in the young republic
- Typically addressed to young women
- “Daughter of Columbia”
- Youthful characters, youthful readership
- Most heroes/heroines under 25
- Importance of marriage (or seduction) plot
- Message: women cannot rely solely on patriarchal judgment/protection
- Must exercise their own reason
- Must exercise their own reason
V. History of the novel
- Samuel Richardson, Pamela, 1740
- Phenomenal commercial success
- Plot: virtuous servant girl redeems an aristocratic rake
- Novels placed new emphasis on internal emotions/psychology
- They generally celebrated middle-class values
- Provided titillation in the guise of moralizing
VI. The Coquette
- Elizabeth Whitman
- Inspiration for The Coquette’s Eliza Wharton
- Daughter of an elite, politically influential family from Hartford, Connecticut
- Had two suitors, both ministers, but instead ended up in an affair with another (still unknown) man
- Died alone in an inn/tavern after giving birth to a stillborn baby
- Story created a public sensation
- Publicized in newspapers and was recounted in the “first American novel,” William Hill Brown’s The Power of Sympathy
- The novel
- One of most widely read books of its time
- Went through 10 editions between 1797 and 1866
- One of most widely read books of its time
- Some claim that she provided Hawthorne’s model for Hester Pyrnne in The Scarlett Letter
- Written by Hannah Foster, daughter of wealthy MA merchant who married a minister and bore six children
- Foster wrote a second novel called The Boarding School ; or Lessons of a Preceptress to Her Pupils
- Less successful, but revealed her commitment to girls’ education
- Foster wrote a second novel called The Boarding School ; or Lessons of a Preceptress to Her Pupils