Hamlin Garland and Abraham Cahan both dedicated themselves to chronicling the difficulties encountered by immigrants, working people, and others who were often neglected in the pages of literary magazines. Although their characters and settings are quite different, what do you see in common between the work of these writers?
Some interesting websites:
A history of the Daily Forward, Cahan’s newspaper
A photo essay of Garland’s boyhood home in Iowa
It’s always interesting to me to see how readers react to the character of Edna. In my experience, many readers today have a hard time sympathizing in any way with Edna’s situation. To some extent, the limitations placed on wives and mothers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries are quite different from our cultural context, which perhaps explains some of this. Edna, to be sure, makes some very bad decisions and is presented in an objective, uncompromising light, but what are some of the forces that lead her astray?
As promised, here a link to see where Daisy and Winterbourne walked to meet Mr. Giovanelli in Rome (You can also find the Colosseum nearby if you’re interested…). There’s also this interesting art exhibition from the J. Paul Getty Museum on “The Grand Tour” that provides some historical context, as well as some nice images.
