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CHAPTER 6 ( Womans Sphere [Women of all ages] are the most devoted novel-readers , th e most intelligent . . . an d th e mos t influential , b y far . I t i s the ma n of feminine refinemen t an d o f feminin e culture , wit h u s s o muc h greater tha n masculin e culture , wh o love s fiction. . . . Busines s men, I fancy, seldom read novels at all; they read newspapers. HOWELLS, 189 9 Recalling he r brother' s home-leavin g struggles , Howells' s siste r Aurelia wrote that "though a home boy, he was not cowardly, an d at a suitable tim e o f his lif e h e went ou t an d too k hi s place in th e world, and kept it." In November 1858 , Howells made his decisive break from hom e when h e assumed hi s position a s assistant edito r on th e Ohio State Journal i n Columbus . Friendl y newspape r ac counts describe d hi m a s "studiou s an d talented, " someon e wh o was a "Printin g Offic e graduate , th e bes t Colleg e fro m whic h t o receive an editorial diploma."1 Howell s never returned hom e again under the humiliating conditions of the previous two years. Never theless , hom e remaine d a forcefu l reminde r o f famil y claim s h e could neve r forsake . Hom e wa s als o associate d wit h othe r claim s on his sense of identity. In the didactic writings and popular stories of civilized morality , home wa s depicte d a s "woman' s sphere, " th e exclusiv e real m o f J 37 i 3 8 YOUTH women, while the outer world was described as the exclusive realm of men . Thi s spli t reflecte d pressure s exerte d upo n loca l commu nity lif e b y developmen t o f th e nationa l market . Th e concep t o f "woman's sphere " helpe d t o accommodat e antebellu m American s to th e segmentatio n o f hom e an d wor k b y reinforcin g a rigi d differentiation o f gende r roles . Wome n too k o n dail y chore s o f child car e an d hom e maintenanc e a s well a s moral oversight ; me n became "breadwinners " fate d t o struggl e fo r autonomou s success . As self-sacrificing redeemers , women were to preserve the home as a refuge , a haven o f peac e an d love , se t agains t th e ruthles s com petition and spiritual waste associated with the outside world. 2 This differentiatio n o f gende r role s wa s idealize d b y middle class writers. William Cooper Howells believed the idea of separate spheres expresse d natura l equality : "Th e sexe s ar e distinc t an d their sphere s of action and duties are distinct, an d superiorit y ove r the other, doe s not attach to either. I n man's mind the understand ing and judgmen t ar e mos t full y develope d bu t i n woman' s min d the affection s an d perceptiv e facultie s ar e the strongest . . . . Who shall sa y tha t judgmen t i s a superio r facult y t o affection , o r tha t affection i s above judgmen[t]?" But the new differentiation o f gender role s wa s coerciv e fo r bot h me n an d women . Th e concep t o f "woman's sphere " trivialize d eve n a s i t idealize d women' s work , sanctioning women' s subordinatio n withi n th e altere d economi c order. Me n wh o faile d t o achiev e th e idea l o f "manly " indepen dence coul d b e designate d "cowards " o r "hom e boys, " th e term s that cam e easil y t o Aureli a Howell s whe n sh e allude d t o he r brother's home-leaving difficulties. 3 In A Boy's Town, Howell s portraye d hi s experience of initiatio n ceremonies, test s of courage, an...

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