I really enjoyed reading "Mrs. Adolphus Smith Sporting the ‘Blue
Stocking.’” In such a short piece Fern was able to give us a large look into her life. She perfectly captures the difficulty of being a female writer, and the views that women had no need to express their intellect by writing. She is not only bombarded by her children and husband, but by outsiders such as the butcher. Although these people may not have the full intent of interrupting her, they seem to think nothing about it, considering her work "scribbling." I also feel that the story she is attempting to write could represent a small portion of longing in her life. Her story is a story of a fight for liberty, and taking a stance. It is a story that is not typical of women; it's not a story of romance or men, but of adventure and strength. The Blue Stocking Society was a society looking into women's rights, such as education, and Fern includes this in her title. She follows it with with a story about fighting for liberty. However, in a very practical way, she shows the difficulty of having her voice heard with all of the setbacks surrounding her. I found this reading to be eye-opening, and the distractions she faces while trying to reach her goal is something that nearly everyone who has tried to accomplish something can relate to.
Kristi Veach
The line that you wrote that says she was bombarded by her children and husband stuck out to me. In the Cavendish piece, her writing was symbolically her child. I feel like the same thing could apply her. Her husband refers to her writing as scribbles, and cannot take care of the child. I saw in this that unless he takes care of the choking child, it will die. Unless she takes care of her writing, it will die. His difficulty with the child, to me, aligned with her difficulty with writing.
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