Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the American Essay
- The Cambridge History of the American Essay
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I The Emergence of the American Essay (1710–1865)
- 1 Essays to Do Good: Puritanism and the Birth of the American Essay
- 2 Prattlers, Meddlers, Bachelors, Busy-Bodies: The Periodical Essay in the Eighteenth Century
- 3 The Federalist and the Founders
- 4 American Nature Writing: 1700–1900
- 5 The Essay and Transcendentalism
- 6 Old World Shadows in the New: Europe and the Nineteenth-Century American Essay
- 7 Poet-Essayists and Magazine Culture in the Nineteenth Century
- 8 Antebellum Women Essayists
- Part II Voicing the American Experiment (1865–1945)
- Part III Postwar Essays and Essayism (1945–2000)
- Part IV Toward the Contemporary American Essay (2000–2020)
- Recommendations for Further Reading
- Index
8 - Antebellum Women Essayists
from Part I - The Emergence of the American Essay (1710–1865)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 March 2024
- The Cambridge History of the American Essay
- The Cambridge History of the American Essay
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Notes on Contributors
- Introduction
- Part I The Emergence of the American Essay (1710–1865)
- 1 Essays to Do Good: Puritanism and the Birth of the American Essay
- 2 Prattlers, Meddlers, Bachelors, Busy-Bodies: The Periodical Essay in the Eighteenth Century
- 3 The Federalist and the Founders
- 4 American Nature Writing: 1700–1900
- 5 The Essay and Transcendentalism
- 6 Old World Shadows in the New: Europe and the Nineteenth-Century American Essay
- 7 Poet-Essayists and Magazine Culture in the Nineteenth Century
- 8 Antebellum Women Essayists
- Part II Voicing the American Experiment (1865–1945)
- Part III Postwar Essays and Essayism (1945–2000)
- Part IV Toward the Contemporary American Essay (2000–2020)
- Recommendations for Further Reading
- Index
Summary
This chapter focuses on the essayistic contribution of women writers before the American Civil War. Antebellum women exploited the essay’s openness to write in formats that conformed approximately to conventions of men’s writings but that took shape in host genres, frequently letters, or in generic hybrids as they negotiated gender prescriptions. Conduct manuals, schooling, and published lecture-essays advised on composing essays yet encouraged cultivation in cognate genres of conversation and the familiar letter, social “accomplishments” ceded as the sole literary “arts” in which women might excel. Conversational culture also spawned associations in which women circulated manuscripts and could offer access to periodical publishers in need of materials for audiences growing as literacy spread. Publishing compositions became almost a rite of passage for middle-class white women. Poverty and racist practices posed obstacles to education, publication, and fame for other women who nonetheless composed essays and published outside mainstream venues. They figure among those who produced an extensive body of essays whose range, merit, and impact remain inadequately acknowledged.
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- The Cambridge History of the American Essay , pp. 129 - 146Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023