PICTURES OF THE FRONT MATTER

I decided to post the pictures of the front matter to the blog so that as we are reading each others analysis' we can just scroll the blog and see what each other is referencing.

Will's Rhetorical Analysis of P.O.S.

Will Ambros

Dr. Lisa Logan

AML 4101: American Novel

30 September 2008

The Power of Sympathy: A Rhetorical Analysis

The Power of Sympathy contains a fantastic array of front matter, including a preface, a dedication, and a frontispiece. This front matter is arranged beginning with the intricate frontispiece, followed by an elaborate title page and dedication and, finally, the preface. Each of these items allow us a bit of insight into the intentions of the author and the potential path of the novel.

While there is no conclusive evidence on the title page of a targeted audience, within the dedication the author states that he intends for this novel to be read by the “Young Ladies of United Columbia”. He also notes that he is but a friend and humble servant, and that by writing this novel he hopes to expose to these women the “fatal consequences of seduction; [and] to inspire the Female Mind with a principle sense of Self Complacency”. The use of various fonts and capitalization techniques within the dedication also help to stir up the emotion and excitement that the author seems to have in regards to the subject of this novel. The vivid frontispiece, depicting the death of Ophelia, a character I have yet to encounter in the novel, also actively stimulates the readers’ imagination. The illustration portrays a grimacing woman, Ophelia, sprawled in an elaborate sitting room and apparently dying in the arms of an older woman while an older gentleman looks on in horror. This seems to assist the author in portraying the consequences of succumbing to seduction, as well as his intentions of saving women from the wretchedness of seduction. Later on, in the preface, the author also states that he intends to reveal the advantages of female education.

While I have only read the first twelve letters of this novel, it seems as if the author is writing towards young, middle-class, American women, and at times the author makes obvious his belief that some of these women were naïve and susceptible to “immoderate reading”(57), which in turn leads to “disgustful pedantry”(57). When considering the introductory material and the amount of the novel read thus far, I assume that there is to be at least one female character that succumbs to the call of seduction, and that her demise may perhaps be intended to serve as at least one example of the horrors associated with seduction. Also, while barely a quarter through the novel, we have been introduced to a multitude of characters, most of them seeming to be women. It must also be noted that the character Harriot is tied to both Mr. and Miss Harrington, though it seems as if neither Harrington realizes that Harriot, Mr. Harrington’s love interest, is a close friend of Miss Harrington’s. This may indicated that an interesting plot twist is in store.

While the novel will obviously be the most useful tool in analyzing the author and his intentions, the significant amount of front matter preceding this story help to grant to the reader some idea as to what is to be expected, as well as what to look forward to.

Welcome to the Blog

Hey,

I created this blog because I haven't been invited to any blogs yet that pertain to the novel. Obviously, I am working with The Power of Sympathy. I'm not sure that I will keep this blog if I get invited to another blog with students who are also doing this novel, but hey, this is a good start right? I will invite The Power of Sympathy bloggers to this blog and they can let me know if they want to blog together or separately or if there is already a blog set up for this novel.

Okay, now down to business. I started my research and was pleased to find some familiar conventions that we have already seen in some of the novels we have read. First and foremost, the allusion to Shakespeare's Hamlet in the front matter of the novel (which is also the only illustration) to the left. You will note in Charlotte Temple there is an allusion to Romeo and Juliet in the front matter.

I can't imagine that you all can see this image very well but the text says: "The Story of OPHELIA: A fatal, fatal poison!" The picture is of a young lady in the arms of a gentleman after collapsing. If you look closely, you can see that there is a mysterious masked man lingering in the doorway. Personally, this whole picture just screams Gothic! But what interests me most is the continuity error. In Hamlet Ophelia drowns herself.

QUEEN: (to Laertes, Ophelia's brother) One woe doth trod upon anothers heel, So fast they follow. Your sister's drown'd, Laertes.

Hamlet, Act IV Scene VII. Dover Thrift Edition.

So this leads me to ask, because Ophelia is not poisoned, but rather drowns, is this a Shakespearean allusion or is there another story of Ophelia that I have missed?

So, being confused as I was, I did some digging. Ophelia, in one of her rantings talks about an herb called rue. She says in Act IV scene V "There's rue for you and here's some for me. We may call it the herb of grace o' Sundays." It implies that Ophelia ingests the rue so I looked up the herb on a gardening website which claims that "In spite of its bitter taste, [rue] is edible, and can still be found in rustic Mediterranean salads. But it is not advised to eat a lot of rue or drink it as a tea, as it can be toxic in large amounts." (health.learninginfo.org/herbs/rue.htm). So it is possible that this is an allusion to Shakespeare because Ophelia very well could have poisoned herself just before jumping into the river. But what is the significance of this allusion. I'm sure the plot of the novel will reveal it to me but until then, any thoughts?