Description
Book SynopsisA lively analysis of the scandalous cases of women on trial in turn-of-the-century America
Trade Review“[An] innovative study. . . . [Carlson’s] careful analysis of the impact of these gendered narratives on the outcome of the cases provides a valuable contribution to the discussion of why law fails to embody the gender neutrality it often idealizes. Recommended.”--Choice
“Engaging, informative, and concise accounts of these complicated trials.”--
H-Law"A provocative, well-written, and illuminating work."--
The Journal of American History"[A] splendid book."--
The Historian"A clearly written, provocative study of the role of gender norms and stereotypes in the American justice system of the nineteenth century."--
Rhetoric & Public Affairs"This enjoyable and readable book adds significantly to our understanding of the construction and embodiment of gender during the 1860s through the 1920s. A nuanced, complex mosaic of public conversations about gender."--Martha Watson, author of
Lives of Their Own: Rhetorical Dimensions in Autobiographies of Women Activists"Written in a lively style and full of insightful analysis,
The Crimes of Womanhood offers an important contribution to rhetorical scholarship. The book will make an excellent addition to courses exploring the intersections of rhetoric, gender, and/or the law in the United States. I look forward to using it."--Sara Hayden, professor of communication studies, University of Montana
"A provocative read. Carlson illustrates the ways that historical legal narratives-- presented as factual, neutral, and objective--were, indeed, highly rhetorical and highly gendered. Her call for a rhetorical reframing of our narratives regarding women, both within the legal realm and outside it, is nothing less than call for expanding our cultural repertoire of the possibilities for successful femininity."--Cindy L. Griffin, coeditor of
Feminist Rhetorical Theories: A ReaderTable of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
Introduction: Womanhood on Trial 1
1. Narrative Intersections in Popular Trials 15
2. Framing Madness in the Sanity Trial of Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard 21
3. The Mad Doctors Meet McNaughton: The Battle for Narrative Supremacy in the Trial of Mary Harris 39
4. "True Womanhood" and Perfect Madness: The Sanity Trial of Mary Todd Lincoln 69
5. Womanhood as Asset and Liability: Lizzie Andrew Borden 85
6. Bodies at the Crossroads: The Rise and Fall of Madame Restell 111
7. "You Know It When You See It": The Rhetorical Embodiment of Race and Gender in
Rhinelander v. Rhinelander 136
Conclusion: Womanhood as Narrative 157
Notes 167
References 173
Index 185
