Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100Perspectives 38 p o r t l a n d monthly magazine from left: Maine Women Writers Collection Abplanalp Library University of New England; pubic domain “Sarah Orne Jewett’s most famous work, The Country of the Pointed Firs, gained her considerable fame and a place in the canon of American letters. Henry James praised the book for being “so absolutely true–not a word overdone–such elegance and exact- ness.” A reviewer of Jewett’s work wrote in 1880 that she had already, at the age of 31, begun to attract a devoted audience with her numer- ous and widely-published short stories. Much of Jewett’s writing centered on friendships and love between women, a theme that was a reflection of the way she chose to live her life. In 1882, Jewett began a relationship with Boston philanthropist and socialite Annie Adams Fields that would last until Jewett’s death in 1909. The two shared a deep and intimate union that was known at the time as a “Boston marriage.” “While the correspondence between Jewett and Fields, and between many other such couples, is full of intimate endear- ments and references to physical closeness, it is impossible to tell the exact nature or extent of their physical relationship. It is obvious, however, that they saw a clear parallel between their union and heterosexual marriage. “Over the course of Jewett’s lifetime, society’s attitude toward Boston marriages began to change. The new science of psychol- ogy denounced same-sex love, equating it with arrested de- velopment and mental disorder. The impact of this change was evident in the correspondence between Jewett and Willa Cather, a younger writer who looked to Jewett as a mentor. While Jewett wrote openly about the emotional connections between women, Cather often created male characters who may well have been surrogates for herself. In commenting on Cather’s work, Jewett remarked upon the shortcomings of writing in disguise. But Cather, who came of age when society had already begun to view women’s relationships with suspicion, was not as willing as Jewett to be direct about women’s love for each other.” – From the PBS archives gain approval [for their relationship] from the spirits of a dead father and former husband.” Gage, both as a playwright and a mem- ber of the lesbian community, feels it is the responsibility of the academic com- munity as “the gatekeepers of history to incorporate [Jewett’s] lesbianism. And that would require an understanding that there is a culture associated with lesbian- ism. Jewett and Fields were part of sever- al networks of upper- and upper-middle- class lesbian activists and artists who only recently have begun to be uncovered and studied. Jewett’s life and work should pro- vide a proud lesbian legacy for all Main- ers. She is one of the few women authors in the canon of what are considered the ‘classics’ of 19th century American litera- ture. The Country of the Pointed Firs, fo- cused on the lives and the relationships between older, rural women in Maine, is quintessentially lesbian, but it has been historically closeted along with her life by both academics and docents.” Cultural context What we do know of the intimacies that passed between Jewett and Fields became an iconic example of a “Boston marriage,” the name given to intimate friendships between women in the 19th century, not to mention a celebrated 1999 play by Da- vid Mamet. ‘improper’ bostonians Jewett’s friend and contemporary Henry James was so intrigued by her friendship with Fields that it was a springboard for his 1886 novel The Bostonians. Josephine Don- ovan writes in The Unpublished Love Poems of Sarah Orne Jewett, “Helen Howe suggests that Henry James was unnerved by the pair. ‘What Henry James, whose The Bostonians “[Sarah and Annie] attended seances to gain approval from the spirits of a dead father and former husband.” This letter continued on p.40.