While reading The Balcony and the Mrs. Adolphus Smith piece,
the commonality that stuck out to me was that the women were the homemaker,
specifically in regards to children. The Mrs. Adolphus Smith piece specifically
calls this out when she has to tell her husband twice how to take care of the
child chocking on the button, showing his incompetence. In The Balcony, it
speaks of the child and mother holding hands, implying that the mother is
taking care of the child. This piece says that women sit on the balcony while
their children sleep and that men do not sit on balconies, showing that the man
has no input in the child rearing.
In the pieces by Cavendish and Bradstreet, they defend and
protect their writing, their “child” to an audience. The Mrs. Adolphus Smith
piece has her ‘protecting’ her child from the unknowledgeable husband. The
Balcony was the only piece in which women could be authors, though their stories
were only via speaking. What stuck out to me from this was that women could
become “authors” when there was no need to defend themselves, or their writing, which was
difficult at this time, because of their role as subservient to men.
Caroline Kirkpatrick
Caroline, the fact that you point out the relevance of "children" in these pieces is exactly why I feel that these female writer's are speaking to a maternal audience.
ReplyDeleteI love that you related all four of the authors, in that they are all protecting their "child," whether it is an actual child or a book.
ReplyDeleteA smart post! I would also argue that it is easier for the women in "The Balcony" to be authors because they are telling stories orally. It's a different kind of authorship.
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