The Complexity of Satire in Tabitha Gilman Tenney’s Female Quixotism
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Charles Knight argues that women satirists were barely found until the 20th century because of two facts. First, during the 18th and 19th centuries women could not access the public sphere and consequently couldn't write satire which is essentially related to public issues; Secondly, since satire is a kind of masculine genre aimed to attack other people or public matters, it was unsuitable for women to write it. In opposition to Knight's argument, in this paper I argue that despite of their unaccessibility to the public sphere, 19th century women writers satirized public issues in their novels. As one example of this, I demonstrate that in her work, Female Quixotism, one of the first American women writers, Tabitha Gilman Tenney, satirizes public issues such as unfair female education that does not allow women to get formal education as men do. Furthermore, she critiques the unfair marriage system that denies women's property rights, which ultimately results in women's subjugation. Through the duality of satire in this work, Tenney possibly deals with public discourses without directly accessing the public sphere. That is, on the surface, through the heroine Dorcasina, who reads romantic novels excessively, which leads her to misreading her false suitors as true ones, Female Quixotism satirizes female novel reading which was the trend at that time. As an undercurrent, Tenney attacks the unfair marriage system that usurps women's property rights and unjust female education that confines women to the domestic sphere by focusing on the education of “Republican Motherhood.”
Abstract
Charles Knight argues that women satirists were barely found until the 20th century because of two facts. First, during the 18th and 19th centuries women could not access the public sphere and consequently couldn't write satire which is essentially related to public issues; Secondly, since satire is a kind of masculine genre aimed to attack other people or public matters, it was unsuitable for women to write it. In opposition to Knight's argument, in this paper I argue that despite of their unaccessibility to the public sphere, 19th century women writers satirized public issues in their novels. As one example of this, I demonstrate that in her work, Female Quixotism, one of the first American women writers, Tabitha Gilman Tenney, satirizes public issues such as unfair female education that does not allow women to get formal education as men do. Furthermore, she critiques the unfair marriage system that denies women's property rights, which ultimately results in women's subjugation. Through the duality of satire in this work, Tenney possibly deals with public discourses without directly accessing the public sphere. That is, on the surface, through the heroine Dorcasina, who reads romantic novels excessively, which leads her to misreading her false suitors as true ones, Female Quixotism satirizes female novel reading which was the trend at that time. As an undercurrent, Tenney attacks the unfair marriage system that usurps women's property rights and unjust female education that confines women to the domestic sphere by focusing on the education of “Republican Motherhood.”
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