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HARRIET BEECHER STOWE'S CONVERSATION WITH THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY: THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE MINISTER'S WOOING.(Critical Essay)

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From: Studies in American Fiction
Date: 20000322
Author:Baker, Dorothy Z.

The opening paragraphs of Harriet Beecher Stowe's The Minister's Wooing begin the novel in an unconventional fashion. Stowe first issues a blunt statement of fact that reads much like a formulaic social announcement placed in a local newspaper: "Mrs. Katy Scudder had invited Mrs. Brown, and Mrs. Jones and Deacon Twitchel's wife to take tea with her on the afternoon of June second, A.D. 17--."(1) The author then abruptly aborts her dry, journalistic opening to puzzle about the difficulty of narrative construction, and to assert that her method of writing is akin to "patchwork." ...

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