1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910462623503321

Autore

Branson Susan

Titolo

Dangerous to know [[electronic resource] ] : women, crime, and notoriety in the early republic / / Susan Branson

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Philadelphia, : University of Pennsylvania Press, c2008

ISBN

0-8122-0142-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (195 p.)

Disciplina

305.48/9623092274811

B

Soggetti

Women - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia

Female offenders - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia

Women authors, American - 19th century

Sex role - United States - History - 19th century

Crime - United States - History - 19th century

Fame - Social aspects - United States - History - 19th century

Social status - United States - History - 19th century

Electronic books.

Philadelphia (Pa.) Social conditions 19th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [141]-174) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter -- Contents -- PREFACE -- 1. TWO WORKING WOMEN -- 2. MARRIAGE, MANHOOD, AND MURDER -- 3. THE "ENRAGED TYGRESS" -- 4. COURTING NOTORIETY -- 5. AN UNSUITABLE JOB FORA WOMAN -- 6. BETRAYAL AND REVENGE -- AFTERWORD -- NOTES -- INDEX -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Sommario/riassunto

In 1823, the History of the Celebrated Mrs. Ann Carson rattled Philadelphia society and became one of the most scandalous, and eagerly read, memoirs of the age. This tale of a woman who tried to rescue her lover from the gallows and attempted to kidnap the governor of Pennsylvania tantalized its audience with illicit love, betrayal, and murder.Carson's ghostwriter, Mary Clarke, was no less daring. Clarke pursued dangerous associations and wrote scandalous exposés based on her own and others' experiences. She immersed



herself in the world of criminals and disreputable actors, using her acquaintance with this demimonde to shape a career as a sensationalist writer.In Dangerous to Know, Susan Branson follows the fascinating lives of Ann Carson and Mary Clarke, offering an engaging study of gender and class in the early nineteenth century. According to Branson, episodes in both women's lives illustrate their struggles within a society that constrained women's activities and ambitions. She argues that both women simultaneously tried to conform to and manipulate the dominant sexual, economic, and social ideologies of the time. In their own lives and through their writing, the pair challenged conventions prescribed by these ideologies to further their own ends and redefine what was possible for women in early American public life.