Response to Elaine Showalter's lecture on "Women Writers and American Literature"

Dear Ms. Elaine Showalter,

My name is Margot Buermann and I'm currently a student attending Scripps College. I was fortunate enough to hear you speak about your anthology of American female writers at the Pomona College campus on March 24. 

As someone who is learning about American literature and female writers in two separate classes, I found your lecture to be fascinating in terms of looking at how women fit into the list of "great literary works" from American history. I especially admire that you took the time to research these female authors because they belong to a group that has been continuously stifled and/or misconstrued over time. As you said, female American writers are so interesting to study because of the journey they collectively endured to establish respectable positions within the literary world. Even if they enjoyed relative success with the publishing of their works, they were still unable to match the "genius" of struggling male artists. Despite the hardships they faced, I found it inspiring that, even when social restraints discouraged them from publishing their works, they still chose to express themselves--regardless of what their husbands or neighbors thought. I was actually surprised to learn that most women didn't use pseudonyms when they wrote. Probably the most studied female authors in American literature are the three Bronte sisters, who all wrote under false names. It made me realize that there is so much more to learn about other female authors and how they formed their own career paths. 

Also, thank you for introducing me to the wonderful poet Julia Ward Howe. The selection you chose "The Heart's Astronomy" from Passion-Flowers is so undeniably beautiful, that it makes me wonder how anyone wouldn't want to look at it from an artistic viewpoint--as opposed to the more political analysis that most female writers received in the public sphere. You placed a picture of Howe next to one of Walt Whitman. The differences between how male and female writers were viewed in their time jump right out at you: Whitman, standing casually but with an upfront appearance with his shirt unbuttoned, and then Howe, sunken in her chair with black, modest clothing. It was sad to hear the story of Howe and how her husband didn't support her writing at all--instead, he made her choose between motherhood and having a career, a choice that isn't unfamiliar to women during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. But, I'm glad that at least she was able to share some of her work with us.

You mentioned that Toni Morrison commented on a new generation of women who are no longer restricted by family or society to publish their works. I believe that it is the strength of these women you discussed in your lecture that lead modern women to have more freedom in their artistic expression. I thank you so much for introducing me to these women, like Howe, and I look forward to learning even more about them.

Sincerely,

Margot Buermann