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lori85's review
4.0
The stories presented in this collection are:
"Old Maids" by Catharine Maria Sedgwick (1834)
"The Fortune Hunter" by Alice Ann Carter (1843)
"Mary and Ellen Grosvenor, or the Two Sisters" by Mrs. A.J. Graves (1844)
"Aunt Mable's Love Story" by Susan Pindar (1848)
"Old Maidism Versus Marriage" by Susan Petigru King (1854)
"Fruits of Sorrow, or an Old Maid's Story" by Mary C. Vaughan (1856)
"An Old Maid’s Story" by Alice Cary (1859)
"The Two Offers" by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1859)
"Number 13" by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (1876)
"One Old Maid" by Marion Harland (1881)
"An Ignoble Martyr" by Rebecca Harding Davis (1890)
"Louisa" by Mary Eleanor Watkins (1891)
"How Celia Changed Her Mind" by Rose Terry Cooke (1891)
Although a couple of the later stories celebrated female independence, the overarching theme seemed to be that an "old maid" can be every bit as self-abnegating as any married woman raising children. Indeed, the notion that childless women (these old maids were always depicted as childless, otherwise we'd have to - gasp - address premarital sex) are innately selfish or immature is still very much alive today. While the modern childfree movement counters with assertions of empowerment and autonomy, Victorian defenders of the spinster emphasized their qualities as Christ-like martyrs whose tireless exertions extended beyond their own families. "How many married dames are there who repeat every fifteen minutes, my husband, my children, my house, and glorify themselves in all these little personalities, who might lay down their crowns at the feet of Violet Flint! - Miss Vily, the old maid," goes the first story. A later one, "Fruits of Sorrow," was published by a magazine called Ladies' Wreath whose mission statement proclaimed that, "On the mind of the youthful female we shall seek to impress the thought, that 'women are not to live for themselves' – that their mission from cradle to grave is one of benevolence and love; and that only in proportion to their reception of this truth, is their beneficial action on society at large." While certainly infuriating to many readers today, such support falls squarely under the rubric "Fair for Its Day."
The anthology is exclusively white, save for a single notable exception. "The Two Offers" is believed to be the first story by an African-American to be published in the United States. Interestingly, Harper wrote about white women, just as James Baldwin wrote about white gay men a century later in [b:Giovanni's Room|38462|Giovanni's Room|James Baldwin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1493320612s/38462.jpg|814207]. While white suffragettes were wont to liken the plight of black slaves to that of white women in patriarchal society, they were less enthused when a black woman reversed the comparison. Editor Koppelman’s interpretation is that Harper intends a message to black men about what black women aspire to in freedom.
While the quality of the pieces varies (although none were poorly written), I found this an illuminating read nevertheless. I bought my copy at a fundraising garage sale for our local gay men's chorus and found a bookmark from Silkwood, a longtime lesbian/feminist bookstore that closed in the late '90s! It was the inspiration for [b:Turning the Page|2001513|Turning the Page|Georgia Beers|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1359741163s/2001513.jpg|2005365], the debut novel of a prolific local author.
"Old Maids" by Catharine Maria Sedgwick (1834)
"The Fortune Hunter" by Alice Ann Carter (1843)
"Mary and Ellen Grosvenor, or the Two Sisters" by Mrs. A.J. Graves (1844)
"Aunt Mable's Love Story" by Susan Pindar (1848)
"Old Maidism Versus Marriage" by Susan Petigru King (1854)
"Fruits of Sorrow, or an Old Maid's Story" by Mary C. Vaughan (1856)
"An Old Maid’s Story" by Alice Cary (1859)
"The Two Offers" by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper (1859)
"Number 13" by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (1876)
"One Old Maid" by Marion Harland (1881)
"An Ignoble Martyr" by Rebecca Harding Davis (1890)
"Louisa" by Mary Eleanor Watkins (1891)
"How Celia Changed Her Mind" by Rose Terry Cooke (1891)
Although a couple of the later stories celebrated female independence, the overarching theme seemed to be that an "old maid" can be every bit as self-abnegating as any married woman raising children. Indeed, the notion that childless women (these old maids were always depicted as childless, otherwise we'd have to - gasp - address premarital sex) are innately selfish or immature is still very much alive today. While the modern childfree movement counters with assertions of empowerment and autonomy, Victorian defenders of the spinster emphasized their qualities as Christ-like martyrs whose tireless exertions extended beyond their own families. "How many married dames are there who repeat every fifteen minutes, my husband, my children, my house, and glorify themselves in all these little personalities, who might lay down their crowns at the feet of Violet Flint! - Miss Vily, the old maid," goes the first story. A later one, "Fruits of Sorrow," was published by a magazine called Ladies' Wreath whose mission statement proclaimed that, "On the mind of the youthful female we shall seek to impress the thought, that 'women are not to live for themselves' – that their mission from cradle to grave is one of benevolence and love; and that only in proportion to their reception of this truth, is their beneficial action on society at large." While certainly infuriating to many readers today, such support falls squarely under the rubric "Fair for Its Day."
The anthology is exclusively white, save for a single notable exception. "The Two Offers" is believed to be the first story by an African-American to be published in the United States. Interestingly, Harper wrote about white women, just as James Baldwin wrote about white gay men a century later in [b:Giovanni's Room|38462|Giovanni's Room|James Baldwin|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1493320612s/38462.jpg|814207]. While white suffragettes were wont to liken the plight of black slaves to that of white women in patriarchal society, they were less enthused when a black woman reversed the comparison. Editor Koppelman’s interpretation is that Harper intends a message to black men about what black women aspire to in freedom.
While the quality of the pieces varies (although none were poorly written), I found this an illuminating read nevertheless. I bought my copy at a fundraising garage sale for our local gay men's chorus and found a bookmark from Silkwood, a longtime lesbian/feminist bookstore that closed in the late '90s! It was the inspiration for [b:Turning the Page|2001513|Turning the Page|Georgia Beers|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1359741163s/2001513.jpg|2005365], the debut novel of a prolific local author.
tina94's review
I only read one story and the introductions to the others for research I'm doing. Traces an alternative feminist literary history, very interesting concept