Fullers Leila Essay -- Margaret Fuller Leila Papers

Methodological Introduction New historicism is premised upon an ideological attempt to wed the practice of history and literary criticism. In this type of textual analysis, the literary work is juxtaposed with historical events (characteristic of the time period in which the work was produced) in an effort to understand the implications within the text. This line of inquiry serves to recover a "historical consciousness" which may be utilized in the rendering of literary theory. "Poems and novels came to be seen in isolation, as urnlike objects of precious beauty. The new historicists, whatever their differences and however defined, want us to see that even the most unlike poems are caught in a web of historical conditions, relationships, and influences."[1] Such an introspective framework ultimately contributes to a wide variety of conceptualizations in literary analysis; such as Marxism, Feminist criticism, and post-structuralism. This attempt to contextualize literary works in a historical manner is also supp lemental to more conventional types of literary analysis such as deconstructionism. New historicism, however, tends to be representative of a postmodern project which inevitably leads scholars to question the application of historical concepts as an ideological tool in literary analysis. The attempt to establish a connection between a literary text and historical event is often reflective of the paradigms characteristic to the practice of writing history. These paradigms foster a notion of exclusivity which may actually hinder a literary analysis. Such an introspective framework ultimately contributes to a wide variety of conceptualizations in literary analysis; such as Marxism, Feminist criticism, and post-structuralism.... ...ted to sex-based discrimination as determined by the cult of domesticity. Because of the social implications of Transcendentalist thought, the actualization of Leila in the spiritual realm would serve to redefine nineteenth century gender-based exclusiveness within the social context. Bibliography Lawrence Buell. Literary Transcendentalism, Cornell University Press(Ithaca, 1973). Capper, Charles. Margaret Fuller: An American Romantic Life-The Private Years. Oxford University Press(New York, 1992). Murfin, Ross. "What is New Historicism?" in The Scarlet Letter. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Boston: Bedford Books of St Martin's Press, 1991. Kornfeild, Eve. Margaret Fuller: A Brief Biography with Documents. Bedford Books(New York, 1997). Steele, Jeffrey, ed. The Essential Margaret Fuller. Rutgers University Press(New Brunswick, 1992).