A Romance of the Republic

by Lydia Maria Child, Dana D. Nelson (Editor)

Overview

A Romance of the Republic, published in 1867, was Lydia Maria Child's fourth novel and the capstone of her remarkable literary career. Written shortly after the Civil War, it offered a progressive alternative to Uncle Tom's Cabin. Writer, magazine publisher and outspoken abolititionist, Child defied the norms of gender and class decorum in this novel by promoting interracial marriage as a way blacks and whites could come to view each other with sympathy and understanding. In constructing the tale of fair-skinned Rosa and Flora Royal—daughters of a slaveowner whose mother was also the daughter of a slaveowner—Child consciously attempted to counter two popular claims: that racial intermarriage was "unnatural" and that slavery was a benevolent institution. But Child's target was not merely racism. Her characters are forced both to reconsider their attitudes toward "white" and "black" and to question the very foundation of the patriarchal society in which they live.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813109282
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	06/26/1997
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	464
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) is perhaps best known today as the editor of Harriet Jacobs's Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. She also founded the first children's magazine in America, Juvenile Miscellany, and compiled a highly successful domestic advice manual for women, The Frugal Housewife. Dana D. Nelson, associate professor of English at the University of Kentucky, is the author of The Word in Black and White: Reading "Race" in American Literature, 1638-1867.

Editorial Reviews

Writer, magazine publisher and outspoken abolitionist, Lydia Mari Child defied the norms of gender and class decorum in her 1867 novel promoting interracial marriage as a way blacks and whites could come to view each other with sympathy and understanding.Nelson's introduction provides a historical context for the novel and a balanced overview of Child's progressive but limited understanding of black women and black culture.

American Literature

"Writer, magazine publisher and outspoken abolitionist, Lydia Mari Child defied the norms of gender and class decorum in her 1867 novel promoting interracial marriage as a way blacks and whites could come to view each other with sympathy and understanding.Nelson's introduction provides a historical context for the novel and a balanced overview of Child's progressive but limited understanding of black women and black culture." — American Literature

From the Publisher