Ragged Dick

The representations of young girls in nineteenth century literature are the complete opposite of young boys.  As we’ve seen in our previous readings this semester, young girls tend to inherit the same qualities as their mothers. Usually this entails being neat, proper, polite, innocent, religious, and all things deemed appropriate. In Horatio Alger’s, Ragged Dick, we see a young boy as the main character for the first time. Dick is a fourteen year old boy living on the streets of New York as A “Boot Black” AKA a vagabond. Although he lives a lifestyle that was very much frowned upon by people of that time period, Dick finds a way to win over the hearts of everyone he meets. Alger even considers Dick a hero at some points in the story. As he states on page 258, "He was above doing anything mean or dishonorable. He would not steal cheat, or cheat, or impose upon younger boys, but was frank and straight-forward, manly and self reliant." Here, Alger is glorifying all of Ragged Dick's valuable qualities. The fact that this representation of a homeless boy who is irresponsible can be seen as a hero is proof that standards for men were not as high as they were for women in the nineteenth century. Young boys did not have as many obligations as young girls did when it came to reputations and expectations. I'm sure the boy's opinion about this time period, looking back, would be much different than the girls. For instance, on of the female characters we read about would probably remember this time as a time of discipline, instruction, and working towards eventually getting married and becoming a housewife. Ragged Dick would probably look back and think, "Oh I was such a young independent boy, I learned so much from the streets, ahhh the good old days."

The Whisperer in the Dark

In the beginning, “A Whisper in the Dark” seems to follow basically the same premise of the other texts we’ve read in class; we are introduced to a young girl facing some sort of family struggle. As the story goes on, however, it takes some ugly, twisted turns. Each of the characters: Sybil, Guy, and the creepy uncle, all seem to have some sort of personal issues. As we discussed in class, Sybil and her uncle have a strange relationship, as do Sybil and Guy, this and the ordeal with the money scandal makes things even more difficult. To top this complicated situation, Sybil’s uncle has her put away in a mental asylum for refusing to marry him. As stated by Sybil in the text when she realizes what her uncle has done, “for my uncle’s inexplicable movements filled me with alarm.” (Page 239.) From this point on, the story has a very dark feel to it. We see Sybil being tortured and forced into insanity from the harsh treatment she receives at the mental institution. We also see another turning point while she is detained. A woman who lives above Sybil in the institution tries reaching out to help her. Repeatedly in the night Sybil is haunted by the woman’s voice who is trying to save her and whispers “Find it! For God’s sake before it is too late!” (Page 241.) The woman even loses her life trying to save Sybil. She finally realizes what all the whispering was about when she finds the lock of hair around the dog’s neck containing the warning which reads in the last line, “I implore you to leave this house before it is too late.” (page 244.) Ultimately Sybil is saved because she obeys the note and flees at the right moment. Sybil has always had a yearning for her dead mother, and has never found a replacement to fill that void in her life, until this woman costs everything to save her. I think this was the real “coming of age” moment In Sybil’s life, realizing someone cared for her and that she was offered a second chance in life. It does seem sort of odd to picture a mental patient as a motherly figure, but I think to Sybil it is actually her mother using the woman to save her. This is definitely not our typical mother daughter relationship of the nineteenth century, but I’m sure Louisa May Alcott gained a lot of respect for portraying a more challenging idea of this type of relationship.

Capitola: Star of the Story

The Hidden Hand by E.D.E.N. Southworth is so far my favorite reading from this semester. If I was a reader living in the nineteenth century, I could definitely see myself reading this book. I fell in love with the characters and found most of them very intriguing, especially Capitola. I love the fact that she is not so needy like Ellen, and not so bitter like Gerty. As we discussed in class, Cap seems to have a bit of both personalities with her own witty mischievousness mixed in as well. Even her features give way to her sort of innocent “mischief,” as Old Hurricane notes, “mischievous dark grey eyes,” and “red, putting lips completed the character of a countenance full of fun, frolic, spirit, and courage.” I love the author’s choice of words here. They completely describe Capitola to a T. Another one of my favorite lines in the excerpt was on page 193 just after Herbert has left, Capitola remarks, "Uncle, do you know you never once asked Herbert the name of the widow you are going to befriend, and that he never told you?" She continues on after Old Hurricane suggests they write to him and ask, when she says, "No, Uncle; just for the fun of the thing, wait until he comes back, and see how long it will be and how much he will talk of them without mentioning their names!" I admire that she has such a sense of humor and wit to her after all that she has been through. Uneducated, poor, and recently come from living off the streets Cap's personality seems to out shine her. This, along with her rugged past that Old Hurricane has heard of, is probably what drew him to her so quickly. It's hard to not fall in love with Capitola, and I look forward to eventually finishing the book!

Gerty v. Anna

Adolescent girls always have and always will struggle with their own internal conflicts, I’m pretty sure it’s encoded in our DNA. However, when comparing a girl from the nineteenth century with a girl from today’s society those conflicts can be quite different, primarily due to the time difference. The nineteenth century was before the rise of Women’s rights and before women were even remotely considered comparable to a man.


Girls from the nineteenth century, were raised with the expectations of being the most proper, Christian, lady-like, chef, maid, and wife as possible. As the line in The Lamplighter, describing Mrs. Sullivan’s take on cleanliness states, “She really pitied those whose home was such a mass of confusion; felt sure that they could not be happy; and inwardly determined, as soon as Gerty got well, to exert herself in the cause of cleanliness and order.” (pg. 107) Now days, as seen in the video, young girls are encouraged to embrace individuality and independence. Also, I feel like since parents have lightened up on their daughters over the years, girls have lightened up on themselves. What I mean is how Anna, the girl in the video, proudly shares advice to other young girls, “Don’t really think about what you have to do for people to like you or to have more friends.” This is completely opposite to what girls in Gerty’s era were taught to think. Reputation, appearance, class; were all things that “real” ladies valued most. The reason Gerty was such an outcast during her time was due to the fact that she lacked every single one of those qualities since there was no mother to teach her how to conform to the demanding society.

If Gerty were the guest on Amy Pholer’s TV show, she definitely would not suggest to not care about what others think, but like Anna in the video, I could see her giving the same advice as “try your best, and try harder.” Although they would be obviously talking about different subjects, the motivation to work towards something is prevalent in both Gerty and Anna’s lives.

Uncle Tom's Cabin

In class, we’ve been discussing the trends of children’s literature from the nineteenth century and how morality is a key concept. This week our reading offered something a little different. Harriet Beacher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin contains many child characters, but since its intended audience is not necessarily children, it dances to a different beat.

Stowe portrays the harsh realities of slave life, putting emphasis on the pain and despair experienced by families. One example of this sad truth appears in chapter 12, when the trader states to the slave mother of the young baby, “your child’s gone … I got a chance to sell him to a first rate family,” and her reaction late at night before she commits suicide, “O! What shall I do? O Lord! O Good Lord do help me!” Often children were separated from their mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers, only to be sold to owners who would curse the rest of their lives with hard labor.  This to us seems completely horrible and unjust and allows us to really sympathize with the characters. However, during the time it was written, this way of life was nothing, but normal, for both the slave owner and the enslaved. As Tom states in chapter 10, “I’m in the Lord’s hands and nothin’ can go no furder than he lets it.” Even all that they were put through they still remained strong in their faith.

Because of this, I believe Uncle Tom’s Cabin does not completely go against the theories of children’s literature from the nineteenth century.  I know it opened a lot of people’s eyes and created an uproar regarding slavery, but since most of the readers were predominantly white, slave owning citizens, they probably did not have much sympathy for the characters in the story. Some may even have used the story as an example to their children of “how” to properly handle the slave business. As far as theories that we’ve seen in other stories this semester, religion was very prevalent in Uncle Tom’s Cabin. All the characters in the story, white and black, had their strong Christian beliefs in common. For children reading this literature, remaining faithful to God no matter what could have very much been the underlying lesson.

Parents in The Wide, Wide World

As vividly portrayed in The Wide, Wide World, the role of parents in the nineteenth century was vital to the development of a well behaved child. Parent’s expectations for their young ones were much higher than they are today. Their goals were to create conducive little members of society while at the same time offering love and protection. Typically, the mother was the caretaker and ultimate teacher of life lessons and affection, which created close bonds between mother and child. Father’s were only expected to provide food, shelter, clothing, and protection for the family.


Mrs. Montgomery, Ellen’s mother was extremely close with her daughter. Offering bountiful love and guidance, she was Ellen’s role model; as Ellen proudly states in the text, “And I always feel safe when you are near me, because I know you’ll take care of me.” (Page 30.) Although she was very ill and could not physically take care of her like a mother should, she taught Ellen how to be self sufficient and independent. In fact, Ellen gladly accepts every opportunity throughout the story, to care for and nurture her dying mother. For instance, preparing her mother’s toast and tea is the highlight of her day. Ellen seems to have adjusted well to growing up at a young age, until she discovers her mother has to leave the country, without her. This news brings frequent emotional break downs for “poor little Ellen.” It’s seems almost too much for Mrs. Montgomery and Ellen to bare being apart, just discussing the matter sends them both into hysteria. In a description of their last embrace it reads, “She burst into uncontrollable weeping: it seemed as if she would pour out her very heart in tears; and she clung to her mother with a force that made it a difficult task for her father to remove her.” (Page 77.) Mr. Montgomery, however, uncompassionate and bitter, cares little about his wife and daughter’s emotions and sticks strictly to what’s “best” in his opinion.

Theories of analyzing nineteenth century children's literature

When I learned that we would be covering childhood literature from the 19th century I was a little apprehensive. Although the time period in itself is fascinating, parents were trying to create a strict atmosphere for their children, so, I assumed that any outside influences, such as literature, would be made as dull as possible. After reading MacLeod's "Children's Literature for a New Nation" and Sanchez-Eppler's introduction to Dependent States: The Child's Part in Nineteenth-Century American Culture, I realized there were many theories supporting the reasons why children’s literature was the way it was.




The first theory is that the stories always consisted of what the adults deemed appropriate and proper. Unlike the fairy tales, magic, and suspense that came about later in children’s literature, the nineteenth century focused on expectations of obedience. As Sanchez-Eppler states, “They are objects of socialization: taught to conform to social expectations by child-rearing experts, by parents, by schools, and by didactic stories.” Morality was the most important attribute shared among members of a family. Another theory that can be used while analyzing children’s literature from this time is the idea that they included harsh examples in their stories as a way to scare children out of doing the wrong thing. For instance, Macleod gives an over-exaggerated example about repercussions when she says, “A girl who’s fondness of sweets took her into the pantry by night to lick the honey jar managed to burn down the house with a candle she left there.” There were many stories with unrealistic outcomes, such as this one, for the gullible, children audience. The nineteenth century was an ever-changing era with the onset of war and a revolution. Another theory is that in order to focus on the well-being of the future, which lied in the children, adults wanted to keep their literature influence flat and structured. As Macleod states, “Faced with disorder and instability, they valued predictability and order; living with ceaseless change, they idealized certainty.” Because of this, plots were not very exciting, setting was irrelevant, and repetition was common. As I have talked about before family played a vital role in a child’s life during this time. Children were encouraged to include their family in every aspect of their lives, even as they got older. Look at poor old Rip Van Winkle, he took his family and home for granted and as a result skipped out on twenty years of it while he was sleeping in the woods. There are many aspects to nineteenth century children’s literature and viable reasons as to why the people of this century created literature in this way.