The Remarkable Mrs. Ripley: The Life of Sarah Alden Bradford Ripley - Hardcover

Goodwin, Joan W.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 155553368X ISBN 13: 9781555533687

Publisher: Northeastern University Press, 1998

Synopsis

A contemporary of Emerson, Hawthorne, the Alcotts, and other New England Renaissance figures, Sarah Alden Bradford Ripley (1793-1867) is largely unknown to today's readers. Although she left no published works, Sarah is frequently mentioned in letters and journals written by her fellow intellectuals. She was a self-educated classical scholar who was well versed in languages and the sciences, ran a boarding school with her Unitarian minister husband to prepare boys for Harvard College, and raised seven children. Legend has it that she simultaneously rocked a cradle, shelled peas, heard one boy recite his Latin and another, his Greek.

In this first biography of the remarkable Mrs. Ripley, Joan W. Goodwin draws on both Sarah's letters and the writings of her contemporaries to paint as full a picture as possible of a compelling figure known until now only as a literary footnote. Goodwin reveals the inner drama of a woman's lonely struggle to reconcile the liberal Christian world view with her own increasing skepticism, and her traditional domestic role with the pursuit of intellectual attainments. The author's skillful presentation of primary materials allows Sarah to speak to the reader in her own voice, particularly through her correspondence with Mary Moody Emerson and Abigail Allyn Francis, lending insight into the anguish that shaped much of her life.

This is a captivating story that will appeal to historians and general readers alike.

About this title

About the Author

JOAN W. GOODWIN (1926-2006) was an independent scholar who worked for several years for the Unitarian Universalist Association.

Reviews

A well-meaning biography, mired in detail. Goodwin, an independent scholar formerly with with the Unitarian Universalist Association, may win the prize for laboring longest on a biography: 40-plus years. Ironically, the book might have been more readable had she not been quite so meticulous. The subject, absorbing and worthy of study: Sarah Ripley, a Boston teacher, mother, pastor - s wife, and one of the most learned women of the 19th century. Scioness of both the Bradford and Alden families of colonial Massachusetts, Ripley was the eldest daughter of a prosperous sea captain. Her mother - s lingering illness and eventual death forced Sarah to take responsibility for several of her younger siblings, setting a pattern of domestic constancy that would enable her to raise her own children (seven of them), take in an orphaned niece, and serve as teacher and den mother to the countless boys enrolled in her husband - s boarding school. What sets Ripley apart from other women of her era is her own astonishing erudition. A true intellectual, she would parse Greek and Latin verbs by candlelight and read the great philosophers while stirring the sauce. The Emersons were her neighbors and friends (Ralph Waldo wrote her obituary, which Goodwin uses as a fitting prologue for the book). Unfortunately, the biographer focuses so intimately on the daily dramas of Ripley - s domestic life that we only rarely can glean where her story fits into the larger context of 19th-century American womanhood. In part, this is because Ripley left no published works, only letters, and eschewed public participation in such issues as abolition and women - s rights. (Her staid husband also may have curtailed her activism and public voice; he once threatened to burn her writings when she quoted Virgil.) Goodwin should resist her tendency to lose sight of the forest for the trees. (11 b&w illustrations, not seen) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Mrs. Ripley, a contemporary of Emerson and Hawthorne, is descended from the leading families in U.S. history. And though she is mentioned in the works of those contemporaries and is considered to have been a strong influence on their work, she left no writing of her own. She was a self-taught classical scholar whose formal education was cut short because of family responsibilities. Along with her role as a minister's wife and mother of a large family, she made use of her intellect and training in preparing boys at the school run by her husband for admission to Harvard. She was able to do all that without ever leaving what was considered the proper "woman's sphere." In this fully researched scholarly biography, Goodwin makes use of letters, diaries, and other primary sources to present for the first time a complete picture of this extraordinary woman's life, which will appeal to historians, feminists, and other readers of detailed biography. Danise Hoover

This is the first book-length biography of Sarah Ripley (1793-1867), a resident of Concord and acquaintance of Emerson, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and other figures of the New England Renaissance. A Unitarian minister's wife and the mother of a large family, she never published anything but was known in her circle for her teaching and intellectual achievements. As freelance writer Goodwin shows, Ripley was torn between her desire to break out of the role reserved for women and her sense of duty as wife and mother. Her letters make clear how she eventually settled the conflict within herself. It would have helped, though, if Goodwin had included a genealogy to keep track of the many births, marriages, and family relationships in Ripley's life. This affecting portrait of an unsung heroine is for those interested in 19th-century American religion, literature, and women's studies. For larger academic collections.?Morris Hounion, New York City Technical Coll. Lib., Brooklyn
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Northeastern University Press
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 155553368X
• ISBN 13: 9781555533687
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288