Week 10 - Constance Fenimore Woolson\'s \"Miss Grief\" PDF

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Constance Fenimore Woolson's "Miss Grief"...

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Week 10 Critical Report feedback:     

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‘conventions’ rather than ‘stereotypical’ – never use this phrase in an essay. Instead of ‘stereotypical masculinity’ – talk about heteronormative Don’t prove what it is obvious or irrelevant: e.g: ‘Race is important in Uncle Tom’s Cabin ‘incredibly’, ‘biased’, ‘sarcastic’, ‘excessive’ (just a value judgement) – do not use these in essays Tentative tone – ‘could’, ‘might be’, ‘perhaps’, ‘arguably’ (if it is a point in your essay, you are making the argument) – do not use. If the evidence is there, then be confident and strong – “X is the case”, rather than “could be the case” No need for a DOI or URL if it exists as a hard copy as well

Discussion notes:   

Large themes of sexism within writing Link back to spheres – public sphere belonging to men and the domestic private space for women Fact of bestsellers being female writers, but men take the credit and spotlight for their own work – weird disparity that questions what the measure of ‘greatness’ actually is

Miss Grief:       

Gendered literary marketplace He is a successful, travelled rich man whereas she is described as “ugly”, often there is a smugness from him as he emphasises her looks a lot Editorial power – assumes he can edit her work to ‘make it better’ but she openly objects to this She can’t have her voice heard without seeking male authority He writes conceited fiction – thinks she writes too passionately and isn’t ‘real enough’ Aarona – Aaron was the brother of Moses, known as a mouthpiece for Moses – she is giving her voice to other people to get famous, similar The Birthmark, Nathaniel Hawthorne – attempt to remove something from the story, trying to ‘perfect it’ but fails

First page - Voice, the marketplace, gender relations:  

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“if one happens to be young, well and strong, passably good looking, with some money that one has inherited and more that one has earned” “If upon this foundation rests also the pleasant superstructure of a literary success?” Because he is good looking and strong, he has been able to become successful whereas she is old and ugly therefore the same opportunities aren’t available “I fully appreciate its rarity” – shows that he acknowledges his position “that quiet young fellow who writes those delightful little studies of society” – evidence of this is lacking, creating his own reputation? ‘A conceited fool’ – public reading & best sellers see him as this whereas the prizegivers describe him more as “that quiet young fellow who writes those delightful little studies of society” A lot of humble bragging

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Writing as male narrator allows for a relevance or mediation as male authors and critics will be reading it “I foster by a gentle system of non-interference”

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“She had understood me – understood me almost better than I understood myself” – ability to connect to the literature of men who she hasn’t met Aspect of gothic – Miss Grief as a double, repressed version of him His first instinct is to consider interrupting her but he reconsiders this

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The way he looks at her work is to define what is wrong with it whereas she looks at it and enjoys it He looks for the faults in her work, assuming there are faults whereas she has to hold on to what she thinks is good about it Armor – title of her work. In a conventional sense – to protect something which relates to her as she wants to protect her work He’s projecting his assumptions about it onto her work but when she projects her voice it becomes very compelling

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Justification for him wanting to destroy Armor – he is scared for his recognition of her genius in the piece, “women will misunderstand each other” – worried that if it gets out, it will encourage and inspire other women to write which he doesn’t want Memento Mori – symbolic reminder of death Represents both her physical and literary death – she fails to get published because of him. Comment of the canon – he takes control of her legacy ultimately by not publishing her works...