November 9, 2009

            As I have read more of Ann’s memoir, I have tried to compare the representation of her to that of Tufts and Burroughs. At first I am inclined to think that she is a careless rogue much like they are. Her behavior is wild, and her resistance to authority after the arrests of her and Smyth seems quite in line with the various jail-break attempts (and successes) of Tufts and Burroughs. She also seems quite careless of the opinion of society at times, also like Tufts and Burroughs. I was really struck by how she said that she laughed when she heard rumors about how her china was broken as a part of a trap for her various lovers. She appears quite callous and cold at times like this. She is also harsh when she is asked if she will forgive her enemies as a Christian should: “I was too well acquainted with the hypocrisy of many professed Christians not to question their sincerity” (367). Despite these instances, I think that Ms. Clarke does a better job of creating a possibly innocent and sympathetic character. The expressions on religion are somewhat contradictory. Ann also says, “I trust that God, who sees our most secret thoughts and intentions not only views the actions, but the motive from whence it originated” (284). Thus Ann does not attack religion throughout the text and create herself as quite the enemy of the church that Tufts does. Ann also does not profess serious monetary ambition like Tufts and Burroughs. She is not trying to have “a gentleman’s life.” If the memoirs are to be believed, she is really just trying to have a life, with maybe a few more men thrown in than the average post-colonial lady. For the first fifty pages or so, her memoirs are the account of a fairly normal life. Tufts and Burroughs, on the other hand, begin mischief from an early age. Ann’s crimes are also quite different from those of the men we have read. Her consistent crimes throughout her memoirs are relational and sexual. Tufts and Burroughs commit many sexual crimes, but these are secondary to their stealing and counterfeiting exploits. Ann’s main sin is really just the hobby of Tufts and Burroughs. She is therefore more sympathetic, and her insistence that her life is a result of fate is much more believable. At least, I find it more believable that relationships would just “happen” than horse-stealing.

            After reading the excerpts from Cathy Davidson’s Revolution and the Word, I am curious as to how Ann’s memoirs examines or adds to the crisis of authority. Ann resists authority on several occasions. She refuses to return to Captain Carson despite his demands and she refuses to be moved to a different cell in the jail. On a larger scale, however, how does this text question authority? It seems to purposefully irritate those who are afraid of male authority being lost by women reading privately. Ann says that she reads privately repeatedly, and her memoir is just the kind of thing that men would not want women to read privately. Although Tufts’ history is at times more blatantly scandalous, Ann Carson’s memoirs show a woman participating in scandalous activity. The writer of “Novel Reading, A Cause of Female Depravity” is obviously much more concerned about women’s behavior than men’s as he (or she I guess) calls for “pure and spotless CHASTITY.” This writer is not worried about the men that ruthlessly pursue women, but only about the “concealed bosoms” of the women those men might encounter. I would imagine that Ann’s memoirs would cause a great amount of concern regarding how it may question or cause others to question authority because it is written about a woman, by women.

            A side note, I realized about halfway through writing this that I referred to Tufts and Burroughs by their surnames, but I continued to use Ms. Carson’s Christian name. What does this say about my subconscious? Am I sexist? Is it because a woman’s last name changes and so I would rather stick with the name that doesn’t change? Ack, now I have to go examine my own subconscious…