When I sat down to write this blog, I couldn't quite decide who to compare Stoddard to. But then I flipped through my notes on Stoddard's "Lemorne vs. Huell" and found my sidenote on how she uses wit throughout her story, particularly while talking to Uxbridge. I'm a big fan of the witty banter, so I really loved reading Elizabeth Drew Stoddard. Every time she gave Uxbridge a good tete a tete I just about laughed my face off.
Emily Dickinson uses wit very frequently in her poetry. I love how far we've come from Puritan sermons; I really think Emily portrays just where we're at during this time period. She's brazen and individualistic, not afraid to write about things that other people wouldn't normally write about.
So having said that, what I really love about Elizabeth Drew Stoddard's "Lemorne vs. Huell" is that it is the complete opposite of what you think it is going to be. As we read this story about 24 year old Miss Huell, all signs point to another Jane Austen ending, where the girl marries for love in the end and everything ends up more or less a happy ending. But THEN...
Page 2538 of the 2nd Norton Anthology text.
"That night I dreamed of the scene in the hotel at Newport. I heard Aunt Eliza saying, "If I gain, Margaret will be rich." And I heard also the clock strike two. As it struck I said, "My husband is a scoundrel," and woke with a start."
Okay...that's totally NOT what I expected.
(we knew it was there, we just thought she'd be all girly and clueless for the rest of her life)
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