세즈윅의『공존하며 살아가기』에 나타난 효율적 가정운용의 이론과 실제
Theory and Practice of Efficient Domestic Economy in Sedgwick’s Live and Let Live
0
조회
0
다운로드
0
인용
0
참고문헌
키워드
초록
In nineteenth-century America, home was woman’s sphere, and woman’s job was to operate efficient domestic economy in a perfectly organized setting of family. Most importantly, an efficient operation of the home serving all family members was essential not only for an individual family, but also for the nation itself. Efficient domestic economy is conceptualized as a cornerstone for building a virtuous nation in theory. In practice, however, the differences in class and/or race were disregarded in this concept of an efficient domestic economy, but only with overcharged conflicts and discontents. It is notable that the dominant conception of woman’s efficient management of home in effect largely depended on the indispensable help of servants. This paper examines how Sedgwick deals with the so-called “servant question,” a highly debated issue in her day of America in Live and Let Live, as is pointed out in its subtitle, “domestic service illustrated.” This paper focuses on the story of Lucy Lee who becomes a mistress of her own home after going through the process of being educated to provide efficient domestic service. Lucy’s success story is possible due to the process of proper education given by eligible mistresses who consider training servants into well-performing ones as one of their most crucial duties. However, this success story of Lucy does not necessarily propose a solution to the servant question, rather discloses a problematic situation. Considering the fact that this group of servants was composed of poor people and African-American people as well as immigrants, mostly Irish, the factors of class and race are variables to be seriously noted in considering the servant question. Arguably, then, Live and Let Live reaffirms that the conception of efficient domestic economy as healthy foundation of a nation was not so much practicable reality as idealized theory.
Abstract
In nineteenth-century America, home was woman’s sphere, and woman’s job was to operate efficient domestic economy in a perfectly organized setting of family. Most importantly, an efficient operation of the home serving all family members was essential not only for an individual family, but also for the nation itself. Efficient domestic economy is conceptualized as a cornerstone for building a virtuous nation in theory. In practice, however, the differences in class and/or race were disregarded in this concept of an efficient domestic economy, but only with overcharged conflicts and discontents. It is notable that the dominant conception of woman’s efficient management of home in effect largely depended on the indispensable help of servants. This paper examines how Sedgwick deals with the so-called “servant question,” a highly debated issue in her day of America in Live and Let Live, as is pointed out in its subtitle, “domestic service illustrated.” This paper focuses on the story of Lucy Lee who becomes a mistress of her own home after going through the process of being educated to provide efficient domestic service. Lucy’s success story is possible due to the process of proper education given by eligible mistresses who consider training servants into well-performing ones as one of their most crucial duties. However, this success story of Lucy does not necessarily propose a solution to the servant question, rather discloses a problematic situation. Considering the fact that this group of servants was composed of poor people and African-American people as well as immigrants, mostly Irish, the factors of class and race are variables to be seriously noted in considering the servant question. Arguably, then, Live and Let Live reaffirms that the conception of efficient domestic economy as healthy foundation of a nation was not so much practicable reality as idealized theory.
참고문헌 (26)
- 손정희, "미덕 갖춘 시민과 계급: 세즈윅의 『가난한 부자와 부유한 빈자』를 중심으로", 19세기 영어권 문학, 14(2), pp.85~111 (2010), 19세기영어권문학회
- Baym, Nina, "Woman's Fiction: A Guide to Novels by and about Women in America 1820-1870" (1993), U of Illinois P
- Beecher, Catharine, "A Treatise on Domestic Economy" (1977), Schocken
- Beecher, Catharine, "The American Woman's Home or Principles of Domestic Science: Being A Guide to the Formation and Maintenance of Economical, Healthful, Beautiful and Christian Homes" (1975), Harriet Beecher Stowe Center
- Bremner, Robert H., "From the Depths: The Discovery of Poverty in the United States" (1988), U of Chicago P
- Child, Lydia Maria, "The American Frugal Housewife" (1988), Chapman Billies
- Damon-Bach, Lucinda L., "Catharine Maria Sedgwick: Critical Perspectives" (2003), Northeastern UP
- Davidson, Cathy N., "No More Separate Spheres!" (2002), Duke UP
- Dudden, Faye E., "Serving Women: Household Service in Nineteenth-Century America" (1983), Wesleyan UP
- Edelstein, Sari, "Between the Novel and the News: The Emergence of American Women’s Writing" (2014), U of Virginia P
- Hale, Sarah Josepha, "The Good Housekeeper" (1996), Dover
- Hoeller, Hildegard, "A Quilt for Life: Lydia Maria Child’s The American Frugal Housewife", American Transcendental Quarterly, 13, pp.89~104 (1999)
- Kelley, Mary, "Private Woman, Public Stage: Literary Domesticity in Nineteenth-Century America" (1984), U of North Carolina P
- Kelley, Mary, "The Power of Her Sympathy: The Autobiography and Journal of Catharine Maria Sedgwick" (1993), Northeastern UP
- Ousley, Laurie, "The Business of Housekeeping: The Mistress, the Domestic, and the Construction of Class", Legacy, 23(2), pp.132~147 (2006)
- Poovey, Mary, "Rethinking Class: Literary Studies and Social Formations", pp.16~56 (1994), Columbia UP
- Robbins, Sarah, "Managing Literacy, Mothering America: Women's Narratives on Reading and Writing in the Nineteenth Century" (2004), U of Pittsburgh P
- Robbins, Sarah, "Periodizing Authorship, Characterizing Genre: Catharine Maria Sedgwick's Benevolent Literacy Narratives", American Literature, 76, pp.1~29 (2004)
- Sedgwick, Catharine Maria, "Live and Let Live; or, Domestic Service Illustrated" (2010), Nabu P
- Sedgwick, Catharine Maria, "Life and Letters of Catharine M. Sedgwick" (1871), Harper & Brothers
- Sedgwick, Catharine Maria, "Means and Ends: Self-Training" (2007), Kessinger Publishing
- Shields, Juliet, "Pedagogy in the Post-Colony: Documentary Didacticism and the ‘Irish Problem’", Eighteenth-Century Novel, 6-7, pp.465~493 (2009)
- Sklar, Kathryn Kish, "A Treatise on Domestic Economy", pp.5~18 (1977), Schocken
- Stansell, Christine, "City of Women: Sex and Class in New York: 1789-1860" (1986), Alfred A. Knopf
- Steinberg, Stacy A., "‘Unexpected and Inconvenient Notice’: Domestic Entrapment and Servant Infidelity in The Coopers and Live and Let Live", Legacy, 15(1), pp.85~91 (1998)
- Tonkovich, Nicole, "Domesticity with a Difference: The Nonfiction of Catharine Beecher, Sarah J. Hale, Fanny Fern, and Margaret Fuller" (1997), UP of Mississippi