Megan Taylor Shockley
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814783191
- eISBN:
- 9780814786529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814783191.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This chapter shows how Rebecca's journals reveal the transition of her personality from young bride to sea captain's wife. Rebecca's entries illustrate new facets of her relationship with William, ...
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This chapter shows how Rebecca's journals reveal the transition of her personality from young bride to sea captain's wife. Rebecca's entries illustrate new facets of her relationship with William, which depict his personality aboard ship. Throughout her journey, Rebecca noted both her reliance on and independence from traditional Victorian definitions of womanhood. She became a social commentator on sailors and their lives, as well as the lands she visited, and revealed her sentiments about life on the sea by using language to justify her position away from the defined domestic sphere of traditional womanhood. She cast herself as the protagonist of an adventure story, enjoying and writing down in great detail the experiences of maritime life. Her journals reflect her growing sense of self, as defined by the maritime world of which she had become a part.Less
This chapter shows how Rebecca's journals reveal the transition of her personality from young bride to sea captain's wife. Rebecca's entries illustrate new facets of her relationship with William, which depict his personality aboard ship. Throughout her journey, Rebecca noted both her reliance on and independence from traditional Victorian definitions of womanhood. She became a social commentator on sailors and their lives, as well as the lands she visited, and revealed her sentiments about life on the sea by using language to justify her position away from the defined domestic sphere of traditional womanhood. She cast herself as the protagonist of an adventure story, enjoying and writing down in great detail the experiences of maritime life. Her journals reflect her growing sense of self, as defined by the maritime world of which she had become a part.
