As an exception to the "damned mob of scribbling women," Hawthorne praised Fanny Fern's Ruth Hall for breaking the mold of the 19th century women displaying "female delicacy." Fern satirizes men's domination of women and children and exposes their economic and social victimization. Fern was also criticized for praising Whitman's Leaves of Grass.

Primary Works

Fern Leaves from Fanny's Portfolio, 1853; Ruth Hall, 1855; Rose Clark, 1856; Folly As It Flies, 1859.

Selected Bibliography 1980-Present

Ashley, Perry J. ed. American Newspaper Journalists, 1690-1872. Detroit: Gale, 1985.

Hudock, Amy E., and Katharine Rodier. eds. American Women Prose Writers, 1820-1870. Detroit: Gale, 2001.

Huf, Linda. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Woman: The Writer as Heroine in American Literature. NY: Ungar, 1983.

Kilcup, Karen L. ed. Soft Canons: American Women Writers and Masculine Tradition. Iowa City: U of Iowa P, 1999.

Kimbel, Bobby E., and William E. Grant,. eds. American Short-Story Writers before 1880. Detroit: Gale, 1988.

Knight, Denise D. ed. Writers of the American Renaissance: An A-to-Z Guide. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2003.

Knight, Denise D., and Emmanuel S. Nelson. eds. Nineteenth-Century American Women Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Critical Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1997.

Marchalonis, Shirley. ed. Patrons and Protégées: Gender, Friendship, and Writing in Nineteenth Century America. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 1988.

Price, Kenneth M., and Susan B. Smith. eds. Periodical Literature in Nineteenth-Century America. Charlottesville: UP of Virginia, 1995.

Samuels, Shirley. ed. The Culture of sentiment: race, gender, and sentimentality in nineteenth century America. NY: Oxford UP, 1992. PS217 .S55 C85

Tonkovich, Nicole. Domesticity with a Difference: The Nonfiction of Catharine Beecher, Sarah J. Hale, Fanny Fern, and Margaret Fuller. Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 1997.

Walker, Nancy A. Fanny Fern. NY: Twayne, 1993. PS2523 .P9 Z95

Warren, Joyce. Fanny Fern: an independent woman. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 1992. PS2523 .P9 Z97

- - -. ed. The (Other) American traditions: nineteenth century women writers. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers UP, 1993. PS147 .O85

- - -. ed. The Literature of Impoverishment: The Women Local Colorists in America, 1865-1914. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 1986.

MLA Style Citation of this Web Page

Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 3: Fanny Fern." PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. WWW URL: http://www.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap3/fern.html (provide page date or date of your login).   

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