The research you did on the “specific background” that formed EE was so interesting and important. HDA sounds like a bizarre combination of claustrophobic legalism that was relaxed temporarily whenever the school could benefit from its students’ labor force.
I have thought of EE’s formative process as trying on personalities until she found one that worked. And I think the absence of meaningful content in her correspondence home foreshadows the tension that comes into the story later between her and her mother.
EE’s wide reading and massive vocabulary have been a challenge to me since I started reading her work. I think I have gained a new word with every book 🤣
I'm so glad you found it to be. Thank you for letting me know. The school does sound alarming, doesn't it? And yet it was a pretty major institution in it's day--not only all of the Howard kids but also, eg., Billy and Ruth Graham's children attended.
It's interesting to think about trying on personalities! I imagine we all do that to some extent, as we try to make sense of our natural inclinations and the pressures of the world we live in. I'm sure you're right, that the challenges in her relationship with her mother played a role in those letters. It's interesting to consider cause and effect: Was she reserved in the letters because of being uneasy in that relationship, or did that relationship have rocky times in part because of her natural reserve, or a combination of the two?
She did have a good thick vocabulary! The new word I've learned from her is "boscage" (which shows up in the next chapter!). :)
Oh, BTW, have you read "God the Bestseller" by Stephen Prothero, about the man who was head of the religion department at Harper & Row? It had slipped my mind that that was Elliot's publisher. But it gives lots of background to how the religion department developed and operated.
Oh my goodness. I'm exhausted just reading about all that research!
The language change you mention was VERY noticeable and, I admit, very amusing. She sounded like she'd had those missionary books injected into her veins!
I guess the early chapters of a book are the place where trust is established between reader and author and I have to say that it was footnote 8 in chapter 2 that did it for me, Lucy - it might appear an odd choice but it says to me, Ok this is a serious author who has put in the research miles (& miles), not skimming but reflecting deep and wide in order to properly situate their subject and allow the reader confidence in the contextualising. That photo also really bears out the sense of thoroughness! Add to that a writing style that flows such that reading is not an effort but a joy makes it a winner.
Richard, I love that you know *which* footnote won you over. That is the kind of careful reading an author dreams of. And thank you for those kind words!
These were very interesting chapters, and the detailed descriptions of the 2 schools' cultures were fascinating. I think I got quite a different view of Elliot than I'd had before reading your book: I'd always thought of her as quite austere and ascetic and that Jim was the first man ever to take notice of her -- but that was far from the case.
One of your questions regards the practice of admonishing one another in Christ, etc. I think that has its place, but there has to be a lot of trust -- and the gender dynamic adds another layer. Men's voices carried more weight -- as Jim's did in his relationship with Betty. He caused her a lot of pain, numerous times, under the guise of supposed truth-telling. (And regarding one same-gender friendship, he influenced Pete Fleming far beyond what was appropriate, I think.) I guess I'm saying that when you combine big personality with youthful immaturity and a fairly narrow piety, that has the potential for trouble when it comes to exhorting and admonishing other Christians. Maybe they would all have benefited from more mature and deeply grounded Christian counsel and advice.
Thanks, Jeannie! I had a very similar experience in reading her letters from hs and college after having seen her adult writing/interviews in which she described herself as a wallflower and thinking, "Is this the same person?!" It's fascinating how our own perceptions of ourselves can differ from those others have of us and/or change over time.
Trust does seem like an important ingredient in this kind of "interference" in each others lives, and it seems so challenging to establish that level of trust. I definitely agree in regard to the gender dynamic complicating this in Wheaton's culture--I noticed that EE tended to accept exhortation with fewer ruffled feathers when it was offered by men than women, and that very few people seemed to take exhortation well from EE, which could have been influenced by both her sex and her personality. I think you make a very good point about the combination of big personality and youthful immaturity; in fact, I wonder whether part of the problem was that many of those who might have offered more mature counsel had a tendency to conflate big personality with maturity, or to mistake the former for the latter.
I want to affirm with the others how the thoroughness of your research stood out in these two foundational chapters! They are key to our understanding of how EE developed and what part the two institutions played in that transformation. In choosing the title “Be Not Seem,” you identified EE’s early inner struggles with self-doubt and lack of self-awareness. I am surprised by the amount of informal exhortation among the students at Wheaton; and I think that, as it was practiced, it was not very helpful. And yet college is just the right time and place to be thinking about personal formation. You mentioned that EE had a class where she identified she was an introvert, but she seemed to struggle with this alone. Smaller classroom settings where students would discuss topics that lead to self-awareness in a constructive way, and with supervision, would be much more productive. As I continue to (re)read I am thinking about how those characteristics played out, especially in some of the defining moments of her life.
Thank you, Priscilla! I really appreciate that! And thank you for sharing your thoughts on this section. It does seem like a different pedagogical approach could have been helpful, but I wonder how much it would have helped without acknowledging introversion as one good way that people are made and learning to address it is a strength with weaknesses rather than entirely as a weakness.
The research you did on the “specific background” that formed EE was so interesting and important. HDA sounds like a bizarre combination of claustrophobic legalism that was relaxed temporarily whenever the school could benefit from its students’ labor force.
I have thought of EE’s formative process as trying on personalities until she found one that worked. And I think the absence of meaningful content in her correspondence home foreshadows the tension that comes into the story later between her and her mother.
EE’s wide reading and massive vocabulary have been a challenge to me since I started reading her work. I think I have gained a new word with every book 🤣
I'm so glad you found it to be. Thank you for letting me know. The school does sound alarming, doesn't it? And yet it was a pretty major institution in it's day--not only all of the Howard kids but also, eg., Billy and Ruth Graham's children attended.
It's interesting to think about trying on personalities! I imagine we all do that to some extent, as we try to make sense of our natural inclinations and the pressures of the world we live in. I'm sure you're right, that the challenges in her relationship with her mother played a role in those letters. It's interesting to consider cause and effect: Was she reserved in the letters because of being uneasy in that relationship, or did that relationship have rocky times in part because of her natural reserve, or a combination of the two?
She did have a good thick vocabulary! The new word I've learned from her is "boscage" (which shows up in the next chapter!). :)
Gotta look that one up!🤣
Oh, BTW, have you read "God the Bestseller" by Stephen Prothero, about the man who was head of the religion department at Harper & Row? It had slipped my mind that that was Elliot's publisher. But it gives lots of background to how the religion department developed and operated.
I have not, but I'm adding it to my list as we speak! I was fascinated by what I did learn about him and by the publishing choices that dept made.
Oh my goodness. I'm exhausted just reading about all that research!
The language change you mention was VERY noticeable and, I admit, very amusing. She sounded like she'd had those missionary books injected into her veins!
I'm glad it came through in the passages that made it in! 😁 She definitely did!
I guess the early chapters of a book are the place where trust is established between reader and author and I have to say that it was footnote 8 in chapter 2 that did it for me, Lucy - it might appear an odd choice but it says to me, Ok this is a serious author who has put in the research miles (& miles), not skimming but reflecting deep and wide in order to properly situate their subject and allow the reader confidence in the contextualising. That photo also really bears out the sense of thoroughness! Add to that a writing style that flows such that reading is not an effort but a joy makes it a winner.
Richard, I love that you know *which* footnote won you over. That is the kind of careful reading an author dreams of. And thank you for those kind words!
These were very interesting chapters, and the detailed descriptions of the 2 schools' cultures were fascinating. I think I got quite a different view of Elliot than I'd had before reading your book: I'd always thought of her as quite austere and ascetic and that Jim was the first man ever to take notice of her -- but that was far from the case.
One of your questions regards the practice of admonishing one another in Christ, etc. I think that has its place, but there has to be a lot of trust -- and the gender dynamic adds another layer. Men's voices carried more weight -- as Jim's did in his relationship with Betty. He caused her a lot of pain, numerous times, under the guise of supposed truth-telling. (And regarding one same-gender friendship, he influenced Pete Fleming far beyond what was appropriate, I think.) I guess I'm saying that when you combine big personality with youthful immaturity and a fairly narrow piety, that has the potential for trouble when it comes to exhorting and admonishing other Christians. Maybe they would all have benefited from more mature and deeply grounded Christian counsel and advice.
Thanks, Jeannie! I had a very similar experience in reading her letters from hs and college after having seen her adult writing/interviews in which she described herself as a wallflower and thinking, "Is this the same person?!" It's fascinating how our own perceptions of ourselves can differ from those others have of us and/or change over time.
Trust does seem like an important ingredient in this kind of "interference" in each others lives, and it seems so challenging to establish that level of trust. I definitely agree in regard to the gender dynamic complicating this in Wheaton's culture--I noticed that EE tended to accept exhortation with fewer ruffled feathers when it was offered by men than women, and that very few people seemed to take exhortation well from EE, which could have been influenced by both her sex and her personality. I think you make a very good point about the combination of big personality and youthful immaturity; in fact, I wonder whether part of the problem was that many of those who might have offered more mature counsel had a tendency to conflate big personality with maturity, or to mistake the former for the latter.
I want to affirm with the others how the thoroughness of your research stood out in these two foundational chapters! They are key to our understanding of how EE developed and what part the two institutions played in that transformation. In choosing the title “Be Not Seem,” you identified EE’s early inner struggles with self-doubt and lack of self-awareness. I am surprised by the amount of informal exhortation among the students at Wheaton; and I think that, as it was practiced, it was not very helpful. And yet college is just the right time and place to be thinking about personal formation. You mentioned that EE had a class where she identified she was an introvert, but she seemed to struggle with this alone. Smaller classroom settings where students would discuss topics that lead to self-awareness in a constructive way, and with supervision, would be much more productive. As I continue to (re)read I am thinking about how those characteristics played out, especially in some of the defining moments of her life.
Thank you, Priscilla! I really appreciate that! And thank you for sharing your thoughts on this section. It does seem like a different pedagogical approach could have been helpful, but I wonder how much it would have helped without acknowledging introversion as one good way that people are made and learning to address it is a strength with weaknesses rather than entirely as a weakness.