1st American novel, WH Brown's "Power of Sympathy" is published

The most amazing thing happens on 21st January was that:

"on 21st January 1789 - 1st American novel, WH Brown's "Power of Sympathy" is published
The Power of Sympathy: or, The Triumph of Nature (1789) is an 18th-century American sentimental novel written in epistolary form by William Hill Brown, widely considered to be the first American novel.[1] Published by Isaiah Thomas in Boston on January 21, 1789,[2] The Power of Sympathy was Brown's first novel. The characters' struggles illustrate the dangers of seduction and the pitfalls of giving in to one's passions, while advocating the moral education of women and the use of rational thinking as ways to prevent the consequences of such actions
https://www.facebook.com/pages/History-and-future-world/402121129963935Written in epistolary form and drawn from actual events, The Power of Sympathy (1789) and The Coquette (1797) were two of the earliest novels published in America. William Hill Brown's The Power of Sympathy reflects eighteenth-century America's preoccupation with the role of women as safekeepers of the country's morality. A novel about the dangers of succumbing to sexual temptations and the rewards of resistance, it was meant to promote women's moral rectitude, and the letters through which the story is told are filled with advice on the proper relationships between the sexes. Like The Power of Sympathy, Hannah Webster Foster's The Coquette is concerned with womanly virtue. Eliza Wharton is eager to enjoy a bit of freedom before settling down to domestic life and begins a flirtation with the handsome, rakish Sanford. Their letters trace their relationship from its romantic beginnings to the transgression that inevitably brings their exclusion from proper society. In her Introduction, Carla Mulford discusses the novels' importance in the development of American literature and as vivid reflections of the goal to establish a secure republic built on the virtue of its citizens.

SUMMARY OR MAIN IDEA OF NOVEL:

The Power of Sympathy by William Hill Brown is considered the first novel by an American-born writer in the United States. First published anonymously, The Power of Sympathy is an example of sentimental romance written in epistolary form. The letters illustrate a dialogue between Harrington and Worthy, two young men who both have a love interest; Harrington has fallen in love with Harriot, who is beautiful and virtuous, but poor and beneath Harrington's station in life, and Worthy is engaged to Harrington's sister, Myra. Myra and Harriot are also friends, and their exchange of letters communicates Harriot's dilemma of maintaining her virtue, even though her poverty makes the prospect of marriage to Harrington unlikely. A family friend of the Harrington's, Mrs. Holmes, functions as a fifth correspondent who imparts wisdom on moral matters as well as providing the information for the story's surprising twist.

The novel reflects early American interest in the role of women as both the representatives and the safekeepers of the country's moral health. It illustrates sexual temptation, portrays the disastrous effects of succumbing to seduction, and discusses ways for the young girl to avoid such a fate. While highly didactic, warning against sexual profligacy in both men and women, the novel also takes on a sympathetic tone toward the seducer and the fallen woman, and like similar novels of the day in America (The Coquette, Charlotte Temple), it urges the community to view the repentant sinner with compassion.

Harrington's original attempt to seduce Harriot and set her up as his mistress is first admonished by Worthy, who vehemently condemns Harrington's plan as childish (lacking contemplation and reason) and ignoble. Harrington first resists his friend's "dull sermons," arguing that Harriot is an orphan with no money or social status, and Harrington himself is "not so much a republican as

formally to wed any person of this class" (11). But Harrington recants when confronted with Harriot's unwavering virtue. Like Pamela in the novel of that name by English author Samuel Richardson, Harriot is able to convince Harrington of her inestimable value through her unwavering good conduct and virtue. Eventually, Harrington is convinced she should be his wife, and they are engaged.

Harrington's change of heart illustrates the novel's concern with republican values structured upon a meritocracy. As seen in Harriot's case, a young woman can rise socially through marriage if she embodies those qualities prized in a wife and mother: virtue, beauty (a reflection of her virtue), and education. Yet the major theme of the novel considers the fate of men and women who fall in seduction's grip. This can further be seen in several additional subplots told within the framing of letters. The first describes the fate of Ophelia, who is seduced by her sister's husband and, when the affair is discovered, commits suicide. The second involves the story of a young man who also ends his life after learning that his fiancee has been captured by ruffians and assuming that she is dead. When she is found and returned unharmed, her betrothed is already dead. The third minor story presented narrates the fate of Miss Whitman, a young woman whose reading of romance leads her to reject several reasonable offers of marriage because no suitor could live up to her romantic ideal. When faced with becoming an old maid, she becomes more susceptible to seduction, has an affair, and becomes pregnant. Her fate is tragic. In the advanced stages of pregnancy she takes residence at an inn, and dies there shortly after giving birth to a stillborn child.

We know that two of the stories, Ophelia and of Miss Whitman, are based on fact--the latter is told without the use of pseudonym and provides the framework for Hannah Foster's novel The Coquette. The inclusion of these stories, especially that of Miss Whitman, a young lady whose head was turned by reading to

o many romances, illustrates the great effort made in The Power of Sympathy, a novel about romance and sexuality itself, to recoup a place for reading fiction by using the genre as a method for exploring the moral and social problems of the day. The novel reflects upon ways to instill virtue through reading, while addressing the culturally perceived dangers of reading fiction. Miss Whitman's story is told for the very purpose of warning against the dangers of reading when Mrs. Bourne asks others to what books should she direct her 14-year-old daughter. Mrs. Holmes, the narrator of this discussion, finds Mrs. Bourne tiresome and overly obsequious. Her daughter reflects the character weaknesses of her mother. Miss Bourn is tolerably beautiful but not striking, well dressed but not to her best advantage, and she lacks the polished manner of a truly virtuous lady. Better guidance from her mother--or perhaps, reading the right books--would correct these faults in the daughter.

The plot of Brown's novel takes an interesting twist when Harrington and Harriot do avoid the pitfalls of seduction, yet are not rewarded for their virtue. Through Mrs. Holmes another minor but crucial story is conveyed that implicates Harrington's father and Maria Fawcet, Harriot's mother. Just days before they plan to marry, Mrs. Holmes reveals to the young couple that they are in fact brother and sister. Harriot is the bastard child of Mr. Harrington. Both Harriot and Harrington are devastated by the knowledge that, because they are siblings, they cannot marry. The father, Mr. Harrington, shows true penitence for his sins of youth but cannot relieve the suffering of his son or newly acknowledged daughter. The son falls into a deep depression and the daughter's health fails quickly. Harrington's and Harriot's last letters convey a psychological complexity that illustrates the emotional crisis caused by a romantic love that has suddenly been rendered incestuous.

The closing message of the novel is a clear one: Not only does seduction destroy those involved, but in its aftermath--children with nameless fathers--incest becomes a greater possibility. The cultural preoccupations of The Power of Sympathy, the significance of chastity, education, and name for the future wives and mothers of the new nation were of central importance at the end of the 18th century. Brown's novel brings into focus that this is especially true in a society that allows freer marriage between the social classes, where the orphaned girl can marry a man of station.

THE BOOK WAS ALSO EDITED BY:

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http://www.amazon.com/Power-Sympathy-William-Hill-Brown-ebook/dp/B005XSS934