Article #335-2 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from Frances Waldeaux: A Novel, by Rebecca Harding Davis

George had always believed that she had inherited a fortune from his
father. It gave solidity and comfort to his life to think of her in
the stately old mansion on the shores of Delaware Bay, with nothing to
do except to be beautiful and gracious, as befitted a well-born woman.
It pleased him, in a lofty, generous way, that his father (whom she had
taught him to reverence as the most chivalric of gentlemen) had left
him wholly dependent upon her. It was a legal fiction, of course. He
was the heir--the crown prince. He had always been liberally supplied
with money at school and at Harvard. Her income was large. No doubt
the dear soul mismanaged the estates fearfully, but now he would have
leisure to take care of them.

Now, the fact was that Colonel Waldeaux had been a drunken spendthrift
who had left nothing. The house and farm always had belonged to his
wife. She had supported George by her own work all of his life. She
could not save money, but she had the rarer faculty of making it. She
had raised fine fruit and flowers for the Philadelphia market; she had
traded in high breeds of poultry and cattle, and had invested her
earnings shrewdly. With these successes she had been able to provide
George with money to spend freely at college. She lived scantily at
home, never expecting any luxury or great pleasure to come into her own
life.

But two years ago a queer thing had happened to her. In an idle hour
she wrote a comical squib and sent it to a New York paper. As
everybody knows, fun, even vulgar fun, sells high in the market. Her
fun was not vulgar, but coarse and biting enough to tickle the ears of
the common reader. The editor offered her a salary equal to her whole
income for a weekly column of such fooling.

Explanation

**Detailed Explanation of the Excerpt from Frances Waldeaux: A Novel by Rebecca Harding Davis**

This passage from Frances Waldeaux (1890) by Rebecca Harding Davis—a 19th-century American realist writer—offers a sharp critique of gender roles, economic dependence, and societal illusions through the contrasting perspectives of George Waldeaux and his mother, Frances. The excerpt exposes the delusions of male privilege and the unseen labor of women, particularly in a post-Civil War America where traditional gender norms were being challenged.

Context & Background

Rebecca Harding Davis was a pioneering realist writer who often explored social injustice, class disparity, and women’s struggles in industrializing America. Frances Waldeaux (her final novel) reflects her recurring themes of economic survival, female resilience, and the hypocrisy of aristocratic pretensions.

The novel follows Frances Waldeaux, a widow who has secretly supported her son, George, through her own labor while allowing him to believe in a fictional inheritance from his deceased father. The excerpt reveals the disparity between George’s entitled worldview and the harsh reality of his mother’s sacrifices.

Themes in the Excerpt

1. The Illusion of Male Entitlement vs. Female Labor

George’s Delusion:
- George believes he is the "crown prince" of a wealthy legacy, living off an inheritance that does not exist.
- His comfort depends on the myth of his father’s chivalry and his mother’s passive wealth—both fabrications.
- He assumes his mother mismanages the estate (a common 19th-century stereotype about women and money), when in fact, she is the sole provider.
- His leisure and education (Harvard) are funded by her physical and intellectual labor, yet he remains oblivious.
Frances’ Reality:
- She has no inheritance—the house and farm were hers alone, earned through agricultural trade, shrewd investments, and later, writing.
- She denies herself luxuries to fund George’s privileged life, embodying the self-sacrificing mother trope but with a subversive twist—her labor is invisible to him.
- Her writing career (initially a "comical squib") reflects how women often entered lowbrow or "unserious" fields to survive, even if their work was commercially successful.

2. The Myth of Aristocratic Masculinity

George’s idealized view of his father (a "chivalric gentleman") is shattered by reality—Colonel Waldeaux was a drunken spendthrift who left nothing.
This contrasts with Frances’ practicality—she makes money where men (like her husband and son) consume it.
The passage critiques patriarchal narratives where men are romanticized as providers while women’s actual labor is erased.

3. The Commodification of Women’s Work

Frances’ writing is described as "coarse and biting"—not high art, but marketable humor that sells.
This reflects how women’s intellectual labor was often dismissed as frivolous (even if profitable) unless it conformed to male standards.
The editor’s offer of a salary equal to her entire income suggests that even "low" writing could be a lifeline for women in a male-dominated economy.

4. The Invisibility of Women’s Sacrifice

George never questions where the money comes from—he assumes it’s his birthright.
Frances’ scant lifestyle (living without luxury) is unnoticed, while George enjoys Harvard and financial freedom.
This mirrors 19th-century gender dynamics, where women’s domestic and economic contributions were taken for granted.

Literary Devices & Stylistic Choices

1. Irony (Dramatic & Situational)

Dramatic Irony: The reader knows the truth (Frances supports George), but George does not.
Situational Irony: George believes his mother mismanages money, but she is the only competent financial manager in the family.
The "legal fiction" of his inheritance is literally a lie, yet it structures his entire identity.

2. Juxtaposition

George’s fantasy (stately mansion, passive wealth, chivalric father) vs. Frances’ reality (hard labor, frugality, a drunkard husband).
George’s leisure (Harvard, spending freely) vs. Frances’ toil (farming, trading, writing for survival).

Davis mocks the idea of aristocratic masculinity—George’s entitlement is built on a lie.
The commercial success of Frances’ "vulgar" writing satirizes how women’s work was devalued unless it served male tastes.
The editor’s willingness to pay for "fooling" critiques 19th-century publishing, where sensationalism sold, but serious female voices were ignored.

4. Symbolism

The "stately old mansion" symbolizes George’s illusion of stability—it’s not his, yet he clings to it.
Frances’ fruit and poultry trade symbolizes women’s unseen labor—nurturing, practical, but undervalued.
Her writing symbolizes a woman’s last resort—using wit and marketability to survive in a man’s world.

Significance of the Passage

Feminist Undercurrents:
- Davis exposes the economic dependence of men on women, flipping the Victorian ideal of the "dependent woman."
- Frances is not a helpless widow—she is a shrewd businesswoman and writer, yet her agency is invisible to her son.
Realism & Social Commentary:
- The passage reflects post-Civil War economic anxieties, where old money was disappearing, and new forms of labor (like writing) were emerging.
- It critiques the myth of Southern/aristocratic gentility, showing how alcoholism and debt destroyed families.
Psychological Depth:
- George’s delusion is not just ignorance—it’s a coping mechanism. His identity depends on the lie of his inheritance.
- Frances’ silence suggests resignation—she enables his illusion because truth would destabilize him.
Literary Influence:
- Davis’ work prefigures later feminist writers (like Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Edith Wharton) who exposed the economic traps of marriage and motherhood.
- The unreliable narrator trope (George’s perspective vs. reality) influences modernist and postmodern explorations of subjective truth.

Conclusion: Why This Excerpt Matters

This passage is a microcosm of 19th-century gender and class struggles. Through George’s blind privilege and Frances’ silent resilience, Davis dismantles the myth of male superiority and highlights the unseen labor of women. The irony, satire, and juxtaposition make it a powerful indictment of a society that rewards illusion over reality.

The excerpt also challenges the reader—would George’s world collapse if he knew the truth? Would he respect his mother more, or resent her for shattering his delusions? Davis leaves this unanswered, forcing us to confront the fragility of male ego and the strength of female endurance.

In essence, this is not just a family drama—it’s a critique of an entire social order where women’s work is invisible, men’s entitlement is unchecked, and truth is the first casualty of comfort.

Questions

Question 1

The passage most strongly suggests that George’s belief in his inherited privilege is sustained by a psychological mechanism best described as:

A. a deliberate act of self-deception to avoid confronting his mother’s financial acumen.
B. an unconscious adherence to Victorian gender norms that preclude women from economic agency.
C. a cognitive dissonance resolved by constructing a narrative that aligns with his self-image as a natural heir.
D. a rational response to the material evidence of his mother’s lifestyle, which appears consistent with inherited wealth.
E. an inherited trait from his father, whose own delusions of grandeur were similarly rooted in fictitious aristocracy.

Question 2

The narrator’s description of Frances’s writing as “coarse and biting enough to tickle the ears of the common reader” primarily serves to:

A. underscore the commercial viability of lowbrow humor in postbellum American publishing.
B. critique the lack of artistic integrity in women’s writing when forced into market-driven genres.
C. highlight the paradox of Frances’s financial success being tied to work she likely views as beneath her.
D. expose the gendered double standard whereby women’s intellectual labor is deemed frivolous unless it conforms to male expectations.
E. foreshadow George’s eventual disdain for his mother’s profession as unworthy of their perceived social standing.

Question 3

Which of the following best captures the narrative function of the phrase “legal fiction” in the passage?

A. It signals the fragility of George’s identity, which is built on a socially sanctioned but fundamentally false premise.
B. It critiques the American legal system’s failure to protect women’s property rights in the 19th century.
C. It emphasizes the absurdity of George’s belief that his mother’s wealth is legally his, despite her being the sole earner.
D. It serves as a metaphor for the broader cultural illusion of male entitlement to female labor.
E. It introduces a literal plot device whereby Frances has manipulated inheritance laws to deceive her son.

Question 4

The passage’s juxtaposition of George’s perception of his mother’s financial mismanagement with the reality of her shrewd investments is most effectively read as:

A. an indictment of George’s lack of business acumen, which renders him unfit to manage the estates he covets.
B. a tragicomic commentary on how even competent women are perceived as incompetent by the men they support.
C. a subtle critique of the risks inherent in agricultural speculation, which Frances navigates more successfully than her son could.
D. an illustration of how patriarchal narratives distort reality to maintain male authority, even in the face of contradictory evidence.
E. a narrative device to heighten the eventual revelation that Frances’s wealth is ill-gotten, undermining George’s moral superiority.

Question 5

The passage’s closing lines—“With these successes she had been able to provide George with money to spend freely at college. She lived scantily at home, never expecting any luxury or great pleasure to come into her own life”—are most thematically resonant with which of the following literary traditions?

A. The Gothic tradition, wherein women’s self-sacrifice is framed as a cursed legacy passed through generations.
B. The sentimental novel, where maternal deprivation is romanticized as a virtue unto itself.
C. The picaresque, in which a clever but morally ambiguous protagonist exploits societal norms for survival.
D. The realist novel, particularly its focus on the economic determinants of personal freedom and constraint.
E. The feminist revisionist narrative, which exposes the structural erasure of women’s labor under patriarchal systems.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: C

Why C is most correct: The passage depicts George’s belief in his inheritance as a psychological construct that allows him to reconcile his self-image as a "crown prince" with the cognitive dissonance of his actual dependence on his mother. The term “legal fiction” underscores that this belief is not just a lie but a socially reinforced narrative that he adopts to maintain his identity. His lack of curiosity about the source of his funds and his assumption of natural entitlement suggest a deep-seated need to align reality with his self-concept, a classic resolution of cognitive dissonance.