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"A Guiding Star To The Youth Of Every Land": Analyzing E. D. E. N. Southworth's Depiction Of The 19th Century Ideal Man In Ishmael, Grace Mowery

Channels: Where Disciplines Meet

Much of E. D. E. N. Southworth’s literature falls into Nina Baym’s category of “woman’s fiction,” a genre of 19th-century fiction written by women, about women, and for an audience of women. However, Southworth’s self-proclaimed favorite, Ishmael, breaks away from her past successes as she weaves a story about the male experience. From childhood to his successful career in the courtroom, Ishmael Worth navigates various discourses of manhood – restrained and martial, self-made, and sentimental – and redeems the best elements of each to provide a model for 19th-century men. With a male helming her book, Southworth tears down True …