How Nancy Jackson Married Kate Wilson and Other Tales of Rebellious Girls and Daring Young Women

Aurelia’s Unfortunate Young Man

Aurelia’s Unfortunate Young Man ‘‘Aurelia’s Unfortunate Young Man’’ was first published under the title ‘‘Whereas’’ in the San Francisco Californian on 22 October 1864. Twain later shortened this initial newspaper version and included it in the British edition of The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County and Other Sketches, published by George Routledge and Sons in 1872. This satirical sketch,with its burlesque elements, pokes fun at sentimental portrayals of romantic love, a frequent target of the San Francisco literary bohemians with whom Twain was then associated, while simultaneously parodying newspaper advice columns of the time (LeMasterand Wilson, 46–47).The original context for this sketch was a mock-serious response to ‘‘letters from lovelorn seeking advice’’ fromTwain and other columnists at the Californian. As a ‘‘professional columnist’’ Twain presents the facts of the case and then his personal recommendation to the unfortunate Aurelia (who has written him), while at the same time avoiding any suggestion that he might find this woeful tale of romantic fidelity bordering on the absurd. He experiments here with the ‘‘deadpan’’ style he so masterfully deployed in his classic stories of the Bohemian period, including ‘‘The Celebrated Jumping Frog’’ and ‘‘Jim Blaine and His Grandfather ’s Ram.’’ ‘‘Aurelia’s Unfortunate Young Man’’ also bears a resemblance to ‘‘Lucretia Smith’s Soldier’’: in both stories a young female character is the passive witness to absurd male action (war, accident, and tongue-in-cheek advice from a ‘‘Miss Lonelyhearts’’). In his early stories Twain explored a major theme and stylistic strategies that lasted a lifetime as 9 Tseng 2001.6.11 17:19 6351 Twain / HOW NANCY JACKSON MARRIED / sheet 25 of 271 Aurelia’s Unfortunate Young Man he continued to satirize romantic sensitivities and genteel expectations . The gender implications are also interesting and anticipate Twain’s later ‘‘new girl’’ stories. Aurelia’s hapless fiancé, Caruthers, is an early version of the inept and bumbling male, atypemorefullydevelopedinthecharactersJohnBrown(from ‘‘A Story without an End’’) and Oscar Carpenter (in ‘‘Hellfire Hotchkiss’’). 10 Tseng 2001.6.11 17:19 6351 Twain / HOW NANCY JACKSON MARRIED / sheet 26 of 271 p The facts in the following case came to me by letter from a young lady who lives in the beautiful city of San José; she is perfectly unknown to me, and simply signs herself ‘‘Aurelia Maria,’’ which may possibly be a fictitious name. But no matter , the poor girl is almost heart-broken by the misfortunes she has undergone, and so confused by the conflicting counsels of misguided friends and insidious enemies, that she does not know what course to pursue in order to extricate herself from the web of difficulties in which she seems almost hopelessly involved. In this dilemma she turns to me for help, and supplicates for my guidance and instruction with a moving eloquence that would touch the heart of a statue. Hear her sad story: She says that when she was sixteen years old she met and loved, with all the devotion of a passionate nature, a young man from New Jersey, named Williamson Breckinridge Caruthers , who was some six years her senior. They were engaged , with the free consent of their friends and relatives, and for a time it seemed as if their career was destined to be characterized by an immunity from sorrow beyond the usual lot of humanity. But at last the tide of fortune turned; young Caruthers became infected with small-pox of the most virulent type, and when he recovered from his illness his face was pitted like a waffle-mould, and his comeliness gone for ever. Aurelia thought to break off the engagement at first, but pity for her unfortunate lovercaused her to postpone the marriageday for a season, and give him another trial. The very day before the wedding was to have taken place, Breckinridge, while absorbed in watching the flight of a bal11 Tseng 2001.6.11 17:19 6351 Twain / HOW NANCY JACKSON MARRIED / sheet 27 of 271 Aurelia’s Unfortunate Young Man loon, walked into a well and fractured one of his legs, and it had to be taken off above the knee. Again Aurelia was moved to break the engagement, but again love triumphed, and she set the day forward and gave him another chance to reform. And again misfortune overtook the unhappy youth. He lost one arm by the premature discharge of a Fourth-of...