Synopses & Reviews
Suffragist, lecturer, eugenicist, businesswoman, free lover, and the first woman to run for president of the United States, Victoria C. Woodhull (1838and#8211;1927) has been all but forgotten as a leading nineteenth-century feminist writer and radical. Selected Writings of Victoria Woodhull is the first multigenre, multisubject collection of her materials, giving contemporary audiences a glimpse into the radical views of this nineteenth-century woman who advocated free love between consensual adults and who was labeled and#8220;Mrs. Satanand#8221; by cartoonist Thomas Nast. Woodhulland#8217;s texts reveal the multiple conflicting aspects of this influential woman, who has been portrayed in the past as either a disreputable figure or a brave pioneer.and#160;This collection of letters, speeches, essays, and articles elucidate some of the lesser-known movements and ideas of the nineteenth century. It also highlights, through Woodhulland#8217;s correspondence with fellow suffragist Lucretia Mott, tensions within the suffragist movement and demonstrates the changing political atmosphere and role of women in business and politics in the late nineteenth century.and#160;With a comprehensive introduction contextualizing Woodhulland#8217;s most important writing, this collection provides a clear lens through which to view late nineteenth-century suffragism, labor reform, reproductive rights, sexual politics, and spiritualism.
Review
"Victoria Woodhull's contributions to 19th-century feminism are often overshadowed by those of such well-known figures as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. This updated, concise reader of Woodhull's essential writings reveals her deep support of women's suffrage and of radical social theories relating to love, marriage, and family."and#8212;E.A. McAllister, CHOICE
Review
"Carpenter's collection provides to scholars, students, and a broader audience of general interest readers an affordable collection of Woodhull's key texts. . . . This collection, complete with a full index and footnotes, has the potential to inaugurate a new era of Woodhull scholarship and commentary."and#8212;Amanda Frisken, Legacy
Synopsis
A scathing critique of the legal status of women and their property rights in nineteenth-century America, Rebecca Harding Davis’s 1878 novel A Law Unto Herself chronicles the experiences of Jane Swendon, a seemingly naïve and conventional nineteenth-century protagonist struggling to care for her elderly father with limited financial resources. In order to continue care, Jane seeks to secure her rightful inheritance despite the efforts of her cousin and later her husband, a greedy man who has tricked her father into securing her hand in marriage.
Appealing to middle-class literary tastes of the age, A Law Unto Herself elucidated for a broad general audience the need for legal reforms regarding divorce, mental illness, inheritance, and reforms to the Married Women’s Property Laws. Through three fascinating female characters, the novel also invites readers to consider evolving gender roles during a time of cultural change.
About the Author
Rebecca Harding Davis (1831-1910) built a career spanning nearly half a century from her apprenticeship newspaper work for the
Wheeling (WV) Intelligencer in the 1850s to her last published short story at the time of her death. She is best known for the publication of her novella
Life in the Iron-Mills (1861) in the
Atlantic Monthly.
Alicia Mischa Renfroe is an associate professor of English at Middle Tennessee State University.