by Susan Cheever
Think of the “players” and ask yourself: What did we know about him/her before? What did we learn? Was anything a surprise? Validation of what we already knew? Other reactions?MAIN PLAYERSMargaret Fuller – Didn’t know anything about her before book; her death was so tragic (she, her Italian husband, and their newborn son all die in a shipwreck during a hurricane off of Fire Island); she was a strong, independent woman confined by norms of the time, she was a “muse” for everyone else, really neat and admirable.
Henry David Thoreau – Saw him as a bumbling person who might ultimately be lovable, liked him more after this book (having read Walden), understood him more after reading about his personal loss.
Ralph Waldo Emerson – Never knew how he got all his money and it was interesting to see that he inherited it when his first wife died, his generosity was impressive (he didn’t appear to expect anything in return), he was the most well-known and connected and used that “power” well. His wealth and connection with Harvard gave a sort of “umbrella of safety” to the group.
Louisa May Alcott – Still really like her, her story seemed to be the most like a dramatic character in a novel who shows growth, change, and evolution. She goes from running around barefoot to being a accomplished writer living in the city.
Nathaniel Hawthorne – Seemed snooty, negative relationship with Melville
MINOR PLAYERSHerman Melville – Interacted with Hawthorne, didn’t really get a sense of him, he seemed more of a colleague, than a friend. Dedicated Moby Dick to Hawthorne.
Henry James – Was bisexual, didn’t learn much more about him.
Sanborn – Sanborn was born at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire. He graduated Harvard in 1855. As secretary of the Massachusetts Kansas Commission he came into close touch with John Brown. From 1863 to 1867 Sanborn was an editor of the Boston Commonwealth, from 1867 to 1897 of the Journal of Social Science, and from 1868 to 1914 a correspondent of the Springfield Republican.
Oliver Wendell Holmes – Connected by marriage to Anne Bradstreet (first published female poet)
John Brown – It was surprising so see him so well connected to everyone there.
Edgar Allen Poe - He became involved in a noisy public feud with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. On January 29, 1845, his poem "The Raven" appeared in the Evening Mirror and became a popular sensation, making Poe a household name almost instantly. Ralph Waldo Emerson reacted to "The Raven" by saying, "I see nothing in it.”
Horace Mann – With his quote and college motto "Be Ashamed to Die Until You Have Won Some Victory for Humanity."
Walt Whitman – Wow, once you get connected, you ARE connected.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow – Lived nearby.
Elizabeth Peabody – Educator who opened the first English-language kindergarten in the United States. She was born in Billerica, Massachusetts. Long before most educators, Peabody embraced the premise that children's play has intrinsic developmental and educational value. Peabody was a teacher, writer, and prominent figure in the Transcendental movement, editing The Dial, the chief literary publication of the movement, for two years. During 1834-1835, she worked as assistant teacher to Bronson Alcott at his famous experimental Temple School in Boston. It was in her shop, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody's West Street bookstore in Boston, that the "conversations" were held, organized by Margaret Fuller, and attended by Lydia Emerson, Sarah Bradford Ripley, Abigail Allyn Francis, Lydia Maria Child (Margaret's long-time friend), Elizabeth Hoar, Eliza Farrar, Mary Channing, Mary Peabody (married Hawthorne) and Sophia Peabody (married Emerson), Sophia Dana Ripley and Lydia Parker.
Bronson Alcott – Aspergers? A genius with little social competence. He had odd rules about dieting, journaling (and sharing with parents), exercise, and early rising. He was so persistent and created schools where everyone could be educated (even girls and blacks).
QUESTIONS WE PONDEREDThis book set the transcendental movement into history, it’s before the Civil War, women couldn’t vote, women couldn’t own desks, women (and blacks) couldn’t be educated. We tend to idealize the past. The past was not “perfect” and “great,” everyone had individual issues, family dysfunction, and unhappy marriages. Is the past more turbulent the present? Was there more action in “social action” then or now?
How did they influence each other?- Edited each other’s work
- Acted as each other’s “muse”
- Supported each other financially
- They provided a safe place for each other (they could express unusual ideas and get support and feedback)
- Their intellectual (and emotional) attraction came out in their writing
They were all defending causes:- Hawthorne chose the “life”; Thoreau chose the “work”
- Emerson was kicked out of the church: God was a personal matter, you could find god in nature and you could find god in people
THOUGHTS FROM THE BOOK- New England is a place of thrift and practicality.
- Genius attracts genius. Greatness rubs off on greatness.
- They all had the same reaction when they left Concord and then came back – happy to be “home.”
- Emerson’s grandfather built the Old Manse where Ripley and Hawthorne lived.
- It gave a great sense of how long it took to get between cities with no trains, it was exciting when Fitchburg rail came through time.
NEW STORIES from a visit to the Louisa May Alcott House last Sunday ---
- The Alcotts founded the Concord Player and one of the descendents still attends local shows and is head of fund raising.
- Louisa was really, really wealthy after her publication of “Little Women,” making about ten times what Melville did.
- “May” is the Louisa’s mother’s family name.
- May’s room is now open in the Alcott house and her pencil drawings on the window panes (allowed by her father) are visible.
- When women were first allowed to vote in Concord, it was not a presidential vote. It was for selectman or something. Louisa and her mother were in the front of the line, as were all the women. After the women had voted, a man called out, “Maybe we should close the polls since all the women have voted?” Another man “seconded” and the polls were closed.
- Sanborn saved a girl in western Massachusetts by removing her from her abusive family. Her name was Annie Sullivan.
- May Alcott was an art teacher who once told a talented student that he should change from working in 2-D art to working with sculpture. That student was Daniel Chester French (sculptor of the Concord Minuteman and Abraham Lincoln monument).
We didn't read Middlesex as a group, but many in our group have read it. These were interesting interviews with the author that we thought we would post.
