|
|
This is only a preview of the paper
Click here to register and get the full text.
Existing members click here to login
|
|
|
Right Mind, Wrong Gender
Walt Whitman was a man with an excellent literary mind. An article written about him by Ed Folsom entitled Whitman’s Calamus Photographs, paints him as an avid reader and writer who was described by friends as wise and full of stimulating conversation. It is common knowledge that Whitman had tendencies toward male desire and he made no effort to hide it in his Calamus poems. To place a unique personality such as Whitman, in the Highbury Society of Jane Austen’s Emma, would not only put a twist in the drama of that community but also pose series of clashing contradictions. Whitman leaves no room for interpretation as he illustrates the definition of “brotherly love” in Calamus. ... Whitman and his affinity for knowledge and expression are a good fit for social cohesion in Highbury; however his ideology is inconsistent with Emma and company’s social norms. Walt Whitman would almost certainly find in his scholarly equal Highbury, however as it will be subsequently defined in this essay, what he calls brotherly love, cannot be found there.
Highbury culture has two things in common with Walt Whitman. ... The written word speaks volumes about one’s “status” as it functions in Highbury and Walt Whitman is a master of the English Language. ... Whitman’s desires are socially abnormal, and done in secrecy and fantasy outside of the limits of reality, where men’s sexual needs flow toward other men.
Approximate Word count = 1094
Approximate Pages = 4.4
(250 words per page double spaced)
|
|
|
|
|
|