The Public Life of Privacy in Nineteenth-Century American Literature

The Public Life of Privacy in Nineteenth-Century American Literature. By Stacey Margolis. Durham: Duke University Press, 2005.235 pp. $74.95/$21.95 paper.

In this exemplary work, Stacey Margolis critically redefines the boundaries of public and private life in nineteenth-century American fiction and culture. Margolis's well-structured examination rethinks the ideology privileging privacy and the "exploration of interiority" in American literature (3). She bases her understanding of American identity formation on the exterior constructions and public actions of several characters in a variety of novels. According to Margolis, these characters "can only be understood-can only understand themselves-through the production of public effects" (3). She thoughtfully constructs her argument in sections that defy traditional understandings of American literature by pairing canonical and non-canonical texts to examine aspects of private and public life from multiple vantage points. She also seamlessly combines historical, cultural, and psychoanalytic approaches to her subject matter. Ultimately, Margolis reveals how diverse writers show that characters' self-understandings and public images are derived from public actions.

The first section of The Public Life of Privacy focuses on voluntary and involuntary group association. In Hawthorne's The Blithedale Romance, Margolis argues, the communal society becomes a "mirror" for Coverdale to understand his opinions in relation to group acceptance (8). Paradoxically, in Hawthorne's commune, the group publicly expresses the desires of individuals while...