The Bostonians Essay, Research Paper
Interesting Subjects that Captivate the Reader in the American Novel
The Bostonians, by Henry James was a very interesting piece. James’ underlying tone for the spiritualism and fascination is clearly a picture of the time when the piece was written. I thought that is played an important influence in his writing. Ruth Hall, by Fanny Fern is an unofficial biography of her own life as a women activist. One of the underlying issues that stand out in her novel is the way that she includes the lower-class women right along with the middle-class. This was not a common ideal shared by all women activists at this time. Both of these underlying issues in these books keep the reader interested it their works.
During the nineteenth-century fascination and spiritualism were very prevalent in society. You can see James’ attraction to these forms of power and healing by his continual reference to Dr. Selah Tarrant, Verena’s father. In The Bostonians, Dr. Tarrant was introduced as a healer, almost as a freak. James does his best to attempt to portray Dr. Tarrant as an oddball, but continually brings him up throughout the novel. This shows James’ fascination with the aspect of spiritual healing and how powerful he believes it can be. It almost gives the reader the sense that the powerful and influential people of the time did not want to openly practice these beliefs, but did so under the manner of their own homes or in some private forum.
Another aspect of his fascination can be seen in how James portrays Dr. Tarrant’s daughter, Verena. She is almost given a mesmerizing power by James, to control the people around her. Verena does not use this power intentionally, but it just naturally comes out in her efforts for the women movement. She draws Olive Chancellor, her best friend, in with her mesmerizing power. So much so that when Basil appears in the novel and starts courting Verena, she becomes very protective. Basil too is hypnotized by Verena and her hidden powers. James contrasts the two characters, Dr. Tarrant and his daughter Verena. Olive and Basil love Verena, but they dislike her father. It seems odd that they would dislike the father of the one that they hold dear, especially with all the same characteristics that they share. They are, in essence, both practicing the same type of medicine. They are using the subconscious to achieve their goals. The only difference is that Dr. Tarrant openly practices it while Verena uses the same power with knowingly accepting it. Fanny Fern’s Ruth Hall is a look at the author’s own real life experiences. She just changes the name of the characters to hide their identities. The most interesting aspect of her book is the fact that she includes the lowers class women in her fight for women’s rights. Very few women activists included the lower classes in their strives for equality. Fanny Fern, another American writer was way before her time in this aspect.
The middle-class women constituted most of the leaders of the women’s movement, and so their concerns were put in the forefront. Very little thought was given to the women who worked in the sweatshops or the factories during the nineteenth-century. Fanny does not seem to differentiate between the classes when it comes to the movement. She might be considered the founder of the lower-class women’s movement. But then again, there was no reason why middle class women should fight for the lower-class women’s rights when they thought that they were not their equals. The reader also gets a sense of what type of person Fanny was. She seems very outspoken and not too worried about conforming to the norms of the times. That could explain why she was not only fighting for the middle-class women’s rights, but the rights of all women, rich or poor, ugly or pretty, it made no difference to her. As long as some rights were gained it was a victory.
The nineteenth-century was also not an easy time for women writers. Most had to conform to society and not rock the boat. But Fanny Fern seems to stretch these rules to the limit. She can get her point across effectively while not upsetting the standards set out for them.
Both of these books, The Bostonians, and Ruth Hall, were easy to read and understand. However, The Bostonians was much longer than it needed to be. The underlying themes in these books are what make them interesting. James, with his fascination of spiritualism, and Fern with her introduction of women’s rights for all classes are very interesting because they show the real views of people at the time in the form of a story. Without the underlying theme in The Bostonians, I would have found the book a little drawn out and boring. But Ruth Hall, I found very interesting. It was Fern’s look at her life and all the issues surrounding her movement that kept me entranced.
Другие работы по теме:
Cognition Essay Research Paper 10 What are
Cognition Essay, Research Paper 10) What are some other key biases that influence judgement? Judgement seems to be influenced by a variety of things each have their own implication on judgement. Overconfidence serves as a bias on judgement. Fischhoff, Slovic, and Lichtenstein, in 1997, tested this idea.
Pysch Essay Research Paper Research Methods is
Pysch Essay, Research Paper Research Methods- is when you make and test prediction of the relations between variables. Its the study of behaviour. Variables is any condition, event, characteristic or behaviour.
American History X Essay Research Paper This
American History X Essay, Research Paper This movie was a very intense movie. The message that it was trying to send was very powerful and it hit me fairly hard. The message that this movie was trying to send to me was that society as a whole does not have the maturity and inteligence to deal with subjects such as racism and hate.
Jewelry From Africa Essay Research Paper Most
Jewelry From Africa Essay, Research Paper Most jewelry of Africa comes from the kingdom of Benin, which is located in a tropical rain forest in southern Nigeria. In the kingdom of Benin, the Oba rules over the life and death of his subjects. In the Equatorial Rain Forest, ivory is plentiful and is valued for it?s rich patina and magical powers.
The Name Judith Essay Research Paper Is
The Name Judith Essay, Research Paper Is it important to know what is behind your name? Now in days, many names are given without knowing their meanings or where they come from. For example, I was given the name of Judith just because my parents heard it and liked it. It depends where and in which culture were they raised.
Spike Lee Essay Research Paper The project
Spike Lee Essay, Research Paper The project that we did was on Spike Lee. This topic was a very interesting one. When we first started I didn’t realize just how much work there was to do but luckily we started early enough t get every thing done. Me and my partner Lindsay Clarke found the PowerPoint part to be the most interesting.
Dwight BollingerS
“The Origin Of Language? Essay, Research Paper Essay Question I found Dwight Bollinger?s essay entitled ?The Origin of Language? to be a very interesting work. I especially enjoyed the section about the chimpanzees. Although we know
Discovering The Future Essay Research Paper Discovering
Discovering The Future Essay, Research Paper Discovering the Future “Values are the way you measure the rightness of your vision” Before I saw the video, I told myself “oh no this one of those boring videos again that makes you fall to sleep” but I was wrong. I found the video “discovering the future” quite interesting.
AngloSaxon Gods Essay Research Paper Anglo Saxon
Anglo-Saxon Gods Essay, Research Paper Anglo- Saxon Gods The Anglo-Saxon period was very interesting. Especially the ancient poems and mythology. While looking around, the Gods captured my attention. Three of them to be exact, Woden, Thunor and Tiw.
Rip Van Winkle Essay Research Paper Rip
Rip Van Winkle Essay, Research Paper Rip Van Winkle is an interesting folk tale that tells the story of a lazy man who minded his own business. Many have heard the tale before, but few have actually read it. In
Black Holes Essay Research Paper Our universe
Black Holes Essay, Research Paper Our universe is a vast abyss, always expanding without any end. Many objects in space are exciting and interesting. One great mystery is the black hole. Ever
Grecian Urn Essay Research Paper A Word
Grecian Urn Essay, Research Paper A Word Is Worth a Thousand Pictures? Shakespeare’s sonnet 18 (”Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”) and Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn” were written with a common purpose in mind; to immortalize the subjects of their poems by writing them down in verses for people to read for generations to come.
Humanistic View Journal Essay Research Paper When
Humanistic View Journal Essay, Research Paper When reading through my notes for the class, I have found that the humanistic approach to the development of personality is the most interesting. The book describes humanistic as development through interaction. Every day we come in contact with people who then influence the way we think and perceive ideas.
Purple Prairie Clover Essay Research Paper The
Purple Prairie Clover Essay, Research Paper The Purple Prairie Clover I would like to tell you about the Purple Prairie Clover. The Purple Prairie Clover is a beautiful flower to see. In the following, I will tell you about it.
Lacrosse Essay Research Paper During spring break
Lacrosse Essay, Research Paper During spring break I went to the beautiful state of Arizona where me and my father were going to play golf all week long. We stayed with my dads old college friends. Well me
Sport At School Should Not Be Compulsory
Essay, Research Paper Sport at school should NOT be compulsory. Sports training and PE take up time that could be better spent learning other subjects, and PE and Sport are not as important as other subjects like maths, science etc. It is also my belief that it students should have the right to choose whether or not we do sport/PE, because we are allowed to choose the subjects that are more important, so why are we not allowed to choose whether or not we do sport?Every year in PE, we do the same sports and the same practice drills, so after year 7, there is no point continuing to do PE, because the you are just doing the same things that you have done in previous years. 2 periods per cycle are spent on PE, 2 periods which could be spent on subjects like foreign languages, which are only allocated 4 periods per cycle or English or Science, which get 5 periods per cycle.
Parents Attachment Style Essay Research Paper In
Parents Attachment Style Essay, Research Paper In this paper, I will summarize the article I read, The Association Between Parental Reports of Attachment Style and Family Dynamics, and Offspring’s Reports of Adult Attachment Style. In the summary, section I will include the purpose of this study, the descriptions of the subjects involved, study design, and my key findings.
Comparison Essay Of Isadora And Art And
Isadora Essay, Research Paper Isadora Duncan It is always amazing to see how two different writers can use different techniques and writing styles to write about the same subject. Janet Flanner and John Dos Passo both
Jane Eyre Essay Research Paper The ambiguity
Jane Eyre Essay, Research Paper The ambiguity of Jane Eyre with respect to gender and class actually makes it more interesting to read. It struggles with sensitive subjects, and sometimes it fails to defy societal convention. But its failures are often as interesting as its successes. It doesn’t pretend to offer an ultimate truth of personal freedom.
Jewish Art Essay Research Paper Jewish Art
Jewish Art Essay, Research Paper Jewish Art On many occasions art has the power to tell a story or even express how someone feels. The speaker on Jewish art was very interesting. She translates many
Speech On Blacks Essay Research Paper Blacks
Speech On Blacks Essay, Research Paper Blacks on the Eastern Shore I enjoyed Clara Smalls presentation about blacks on the eastern shore. It was interesting to learn that in the early 1600?s blacks were primarily indentured servants. Blacks only worked for so long then could be released. Some blacks even owed land and had slaves of their own.
Intewrnationl Day Essay Research Paper International DayInternational
Intewrnationl Day Essay, Research Paper International Day International Day was a day where the students from foreign country’s get to share there pride in there country and culture and that’s exactly what they did. This international day was the first one I’ve ever attended and I will attend them from now on.
Client Essay Research Paper The Client
Client Essay, Research Paper ?The Client? / John Grisham 1. I enjoyed reading this interesting book. It talks about eleven years old Mark Sway and his younger
Justice Essay Research Paper In the Republic
Justice Essay, Research Paper In the Republic, Plato attempts to answer one of philosophy’s most central questions: What is justice or right conduct? Thrasymachus, who is upset at
Magic Vs Science Essay Research Paper Magic
Magic Vs. Science Essay, Research Paper Magic vs. Science What is magic and science? These two subjects have been around for several hundred years and many controversies have come about when the
Math Essay Research Paper Math seems to
Math Essay, Research Paper Math seems to be one of my stronger subjects. All through elementary school, junior high school, and high school, I have always shown strong points in mathematics. Majority of the time, math was a class that I did not mind going to. I definitely did not find it boring because you are always doing something.
Emerson And The Transcendentalists Essay Research Paper
Ralph Waldo Emerson was a great essayist. I like reading about Emerson. He was very interesting. His essay “Self Reliance” told me that I could be an individual, a non-conformest. Many people were influenced by him, including Henry David Thoreau, a neighbor in Concord. Mr. Thoreau wrote the famous book Walden, which details his experiences living alone in the woods of Concord, Massachusetts.
Religion And Science Essay Research Paper Religion
Religion And Science Essay, Research Paper Religion and Science Is Science and Religion really such an adversary? I believe that it is a very touchy subject, in which it can go either way. Some people may claim that science and religion are two very similar subjects, while other may view it as two very different subjects of life.
The Park Essay Research Paper A couple
The Park Essay, Research Paper A couple of months ago I went to the park with my nephew. I remember the day like is was yesterday. The weather was cool and clouds were overhead. I sat by myself and watched him play and watched everything happen around me. I wasn?t expecting to find so many interesting things just watching people, but amazed at what I did discover.