consent of the governed. Whenever any form
– the law giving him power to deprive her of
of government becomes destructive of these
her liberty, and to administer chastisement.
ends, it is the right of those who suffer from
He has so framed the laws of divorce, as to
it to refuse allegiance to it, and to insist upon
what shall be the proper causes, and in case
the institution of a new government, laying
of separation, to whom the guardianship of
its foundation on such principles, and orga-
the children shall be given, as to be wholly
nizing its powers in such form, as to them
regardless of the happiness of women – the
shall seem most likely to effect their safety
law, in all cases, going upon a false supposi-
and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate
tion of the supremacy of man, and giving all
that governments long established should
power into his hands. After depriving her of
not be changed for light and transient causes;
all rights as a married woman, if single, and
210
Andrew J. Furer
the owner of property, he has taxed her to
16
Since this story, unlike those discussed above,
support a government which recognizes her
is very widely known, I will not summarize
only when her property can be made profi t-
it here.
able to it. He has monopolized nearly all the
17
At twenty magazine pages in its original
profi table employments, and from those she
form, Life in the Iron Mills certainly qualifi es
is permitted to follow, she receives but a
as short fi ction, though it is sometimes
scanty remuneration. He closes against her
referred to as a novel.
all the avenues to wealth and distinction
18
Korl is the waste product of steel refi ning
which he considers most honorable to
processes.
himself. As a teacher of theology, medicine,
19 Some historians use 1890 as the start of this
or law, she is not known. He has denied her
era. However, since a number of signifi cant
the facilities for obtaining a thorough educa-
reforms such as the Pendleton Civil Service
tion, all colleges being closed against her. He
Act (1883) and the Interstate Commerce Act
allows her in church, as well as state, but in
(1887) were passed prior to this date, and
a subordinate position, claiming apostolic
since events such as the founding of the
authority for her exclusion from the ministry,
American Federation of Labor (1886), the
and, with some exceptions, from any public
introduction of the secret ballot system
participation in the affairs of the church. He
(1888), and the start of the Settlement House
has created a false public sentiment by giving
movement (Hull House, 1889), occur during
to the world a different code of morals for
the 1880s, I have chosen 1880 as the period ’ s
men and women, by which moral delinquen-
start date. For similar reasons, a number of
cies which exclude women from society, are
major monographs on the period, such as
not only tolerated, but deemed of little
Robert Wiebe ’ s The Search for Order: 1877 –
account in man. He has usurped the preroga-
1920,
and Nell Irvin Painter
’
s
Standing at
tive of Jehovah himself, claiming it as his
Armageddon: The United States, 1877
–
1919,
right to assign for her a sphere of action,
start their coverage before 1890, as do certain
when that belongs to her conscience and to
institutions, such as the National Women ’ s
her God. He has endeavored, in every way
History Museum (
www.nwhm.org/exhibits/
that he could, to destroy her confi dence in
womenindustry_intro.html ).
her own powers, to lessen her self
-
respect, 20
Additional changes include the invention of
and to make her willing to lead a dependent
the automobile, airplane, radio, and phono-
and abject life. Now, in view of this entire
graph, as well as motion pictures and air con-
disfranchisement of one
-
half the people of
ditioning. By 1915, 2.5 million cars were in
this country, their social and religious degra-
use, while the number of telephones increased
dation
–
in view of the unjust laws above
twenty - fi ve times. Moreover, there were sig-
mentioned, and because women do feel
nifi cant upheavals in gender roles in the Pro-
themselves aggrieved, oppressed, and fraudu-
gressive Era: in the 1880s and 1890s women
lently deprived of their most sacred rights,
fl ocked to colleges in ever - increasing numbers,
we insist that they have immediate admis-
and when they graduated, tended to choose
sion to all the rights and privileges which
careers over marriage: from 1889 to 1908, for
belong to them as citizens of the United
example, 55 percent of Bryn Mawr women did
States ” (Elizabeth Cady Stanton, A History of
not marry, while 62 percent undertook gradu-
Woman Suffrage 70 – 1).
ate training (Smith - Rosenberg 281). Women
15
Subsequently, a man enters the room and
also entered the professional workforce in
reads the same document that the narrator
increasingly large numbers; during this
has been perusing, and states “ ‘ O happy
period, women made up as much as 25 percent
America! Thrice happy land of Freedom! Thy
of the national labor force, with women
example shall yet free all nations from the
between the ages of 15 and 24 forming the
galling chains of mental bondage; and teach
largest proportion of this group (Evans 130).
to the earth
’
s remotest ends, in what true 21
Temperance reform thus continued, as previ-
happiness consists! ’ ” (Chamberlain 91).
ously noted, though it did not produce as
Short Fiction and Social Change
211
much signifi cant literary work as it did earlier
acts passed from 1882 to 1902 that limited
in the nineteenth century.
and ultimately prohibited Chinese immigra-
22
A partial listing of London ’ s anti - capitalist
tion, and put ever tighter restrictions on
short fi ction would include, in addition to
those already residing in the US, including
those discussed here, “ The Minions of Midas ”
prohibiting them from becoming citizens.
(1901/1906), “ A Curious Fragment ” (1907),
28
/> Zitkala - Š a directly expresses her views on the
and “ Goliah ” (1910).
importance of holding fast to native religion
23
For more on the tropes of the brute and
in a non - fi ction piece drenched in the racial
machine in American naturalism, see June
politics of resistance, “ Why I Am a Pagan ”
Howard, Form and History in American Literary
(1902) .
Naturalism
, and Mark Seltzer,
Bodies and 29
It is important to remember, however, that
Machines .
like Far, and many other writers from mar-
24 It would not seem coincidental that this is
ginalized groups, Zitkala - Š a in both her life
also the period at the end of which Bernarr
and her fi ction is also interested in trying to
Macfadden, physical culture advocate, and
fi gure out how to be simultaneously a part of
self
-
made publishing tycoon, invented the
both her racial subculture and the dominant
“ true crime ” and “ true romance ” type of mag-
Euro
-
American culture, how to negotiate
azine, with which he had enormous success.
the fl
uctuating boundaries of
“
double
-
25
Topics of his works include: adventure, agri-
consciousness, ” to borrow Du Bois ’ s term for
culture, alcoholism, androgyny, animal train-
African Americans ’ dilemma.
ing (and rights), architecture, assassination,
30
From John William Larner, Jr., ed. The Papers
astral projection, big business, boxing (he
of Carlos Montezuma, M.D. [Microfi lm edn.].
invented boxing fi ction), bullfi ghting, crime,
Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 1983.
dreams, ecology, economics, ethics (esp.
Reel 1 of 9 reels.
situational), evolution, fantasy, feminism, 31
Unlike Chopin and Gilman, who devoted not
folklore, gambling, gold
-
hunting, hoboing,
only novels, but also numerous short stories
imperialism, labor, leprosy, mental retarda-
to feminist themes, London focused on the
tion, mythology, penal reform, political cor-
former genre for his New Woman works
ruption, poverty, prize fi ghting, psychology,
(e.g., his fi rst novel A Daughter of the Snows
the publishing industry, racism, revolution,
[1902], as well as Burning Daylight [1910],
seafaring, science, science fi ction, socialism,
and his last novel published during his life-
spiritualism, stockbreeding, surfi ng (which
time,
Little Lady of the Big House [1916]),
he introduced to the American public),
devoting relatively few short stories to what
travel, war, wildlife, and writing itself.
he called, in Daughter of the Snows , “ the new
26
For additional examples of London ’ s anti -
womanhood. ” For more on London ’ s typically
racist and/or anti - imperialist stories, see, for
confl
icted attitudes toward women and
example, “ The Seed of McCoy ” (1909/1911),
changing gender roles, see my “ Jack London ’ s
“ Aloha Oe ” (1908/1912), “ The Inevitable
New Woman: A Little Lady with a Big Stick ”
White Man
”
(1910/1911), and
“
The
(1994).
Chinago ” (1909/1911).
32
This idea was paralleled by Thorstein Veblen
27 Sui Sin Far was born in England, but moved
in The Theory of the Leisure Class (1899) and
with her family to the US at the age of 7. The
The Instinct of Workmanship and the State of the
Chinese Exclusion Acts were a series of three
Industrial Arts (1914).
References and Further Reading
Alcott , Louisa May . “ Silver Pitchers. ” 1876 . In
Appleton , Mrs. M. L. [Jane Sophia]. “ Sequel to the
Mattingly, ed., Water Drops from Women Writers:
‘ Vision of Bangor in the Twentieth Century . ’ ”
A Temperance Reader , 219 – 49 .
1848 . Voices from the Kenduskeag . Eds. Cornelia
212
Andrew J. Furer
Crosby Barrett and. Mrs. M. L. (Jane Sophia)
Furer , Andrew J. “ ‘ A Mighty Power Thrills Her
Appleton .
Bangor :
David
Bugbee ,
1848.
Body ’ : Zitkala - Š a ’ s ‘ A Warrior ’ s Daughter ’ and
243 – 65 .
Natural Feminism . ” The Genders of Naturalism .
Barnett , Louise K. “ Bartleby as Alienated Worker . ”
Ed. Andrew J. Furer . Durham, NC : Duke Uni-
Studies in Short Fiction 11 (Fall 1974 ): 379 – 95 .
versity Press , in press.
Butler , Carolyn Hyde . “ Emma Alton. ” 1850 . In
— — — . “ Jack London ’ s New Woman: A Little
Mattingly, ed., Water Drops from Women Writers:
Lady with a Big Stick
.
”
Studies in American
A Temperance Reader , 22 – 30 .
Fiction 22 . 2 ( 1994 ): 185 – 214 .
Cahan , Abraham . “ A Sweatshop Romance . ” 1898 .
— — — . “ ‘ Zone - Conquerors ’ and ‘ White Devils ’ :
Yekl and the Imported Bridegroom and Other Stories
The Contradictions of Race in the Works of Jack
of Yiddish New York . New York : Dover , 1970 .
London . ” Rereading Jack London . Eds. Leonard
188 – 202 .
Cassuto and Jeanne C. Reesman . Stanford : Stan-
Cane , Aleta Feinsod , and Susan Alves , eds. Ameri-
ford University Press , 1996 . 158 – 71 .
can Women Writers and the Periodical, 1837 – 1916:
Garland , Hamlin . “ Under the Lion ’ s Paw . ” Main -
“ The Only Effi cient Instrument . ” Iowa City : Uni-
Travelled Roads . Boston : Arena , 1891 . 217 – 240 .
versity of Iowa Press , 2001 .
Gilman , Charlotte Perkins . “ The Yellow Wallpa-
Chamberlain , Betsey . “ A New Society . ” 1840 .
per . ” 1892 . Women Who Did: Stories by Men and
Nineteenth -
Century American Women Writers: An
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Anthology . Ed. Karen L. Kilcup . Oxford : Black-
New York : Penguin , 2002 . 31 – 47 .
well , 1997 . 90 – 1 .
— — — . “ Why I Wrote ‘ The Yellow Wallpaper . ’ ”
Chesnutt , Charles W. “ The Wife of His Youth . ”
The Forerunner (October 1913 ): 19 – 20 .
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— — — . Women and Economics: A Study of the Rela-
and Intro. William L. Andrews . New York :
tion between Women and Men . 1898 . Ed. Carl N.
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�� Charity Bowery . ” The Liberty
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Ginzburg , Lori D. Women in Antebellum Reform .
1839 . 26 – 43 .
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— — — . “ Slavery ’ s Pleasant Homes . ” 1843 . A
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238 – 42 .
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— — — . “ Willie Wharton . ” Atlantic Monthly 11
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sity Press , 2001 .
Chopin , Kate . “ The Story of an Hour . ” 1894 .
Howard , June . Form and History in American Liter-
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ary Naturalism . Chapel Hill : University of
1890 – 1914 . Ed. Angelique Richardson . New
North Carolina Press , 1985 .
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Davis , Rebecca Harding . Life in the Iron Mills and
Karcher , Carolyn , ed. A Lydia Maria Child Reader .
Other Stories . Ed. and Intro. Tillie Olsen . New
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York : Feminist Press , 1985 .
— — — . The First Woman in the Republic: A Cultural
Evans , Sara . Born for Liberty: A History of Women in
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Far , Sui Sin (Edith Maude Eaton). “ The Chinese
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Ishmael . ” Overland Monthly (July 1899 ): 43 – 9 .
Women Writers: An Anthology . Oxford : Black-
— — — . “ Mrs. Spring Fragrance . ” 1910/1912 .
well , 1997 .
Mrs. Spring Fragrance and Other Writings . Eds.
Levy , Andrew . The Culture and Commerce of the
Amy Ling and Annette White - Parks . Urbana :
American Short Story . Cambridge : Cambridge
University of Illinois Press , 1995 . 17 – 41 .
University Press , 1993 .
Short Fiction and Social Change
213
London , Charmian Kittredge . The Book of Jack
Arte P
A Companion to the American Short Story Page 47
