Transporting Elizabeth's Piano: Literature and the Piano in the Early American Republic

£6.99

Symbiosis 8.1 31-48
Author: Erin Atchison
Pages: 20

'Transporting Elizabeth’s Piano: Literature and the Piano in the Early American Republic' by Erin Atchison, provides an in-depth analysis of the symbolic role of the piano in early American literature. Originally published in Symbiosis: a Journal of Anglo-American Literary Relations, this essay explores how the piano, as depicted in James Fenimore Cooper’s 'The Pioneers,' reflects the cultural and social aspirations of the American elite in the early Republic. Atchison delves into the intersection of music, gender, and class, examining how the piano functions as a symbol of refinement and domesticity, as well as a marker of cultural exchange between Europe and America. This scholarly work is essential for readers interested in literary criticism, cultural studies, and the history of music in literature.

Essay Excerpt

"In The Pioneers by James Fenimore Cooper, there is a piano in the Hall of Temple Mansion. The piano is small and unobtrusive, and it is noted only by the presence of the young hunter Oliver Edwards, who is later revealed as the gentleman Effingham. He is unexpectedly at ease with, and indeed contemptuous of, the lavish surroundings: 'The hand that held the cap, rested lightly on the little ivory-mounted piano of Elizabeth, with neither rustic restraint, nor obtrusive vulgarity. A single finger touched the instrument, as if accustomed to dwell on such places.' This is not Cooper’s first reference in the novel to the piano. A few pages earlier, he likens Temple’s conversation to a musical accompaniment: '...his conversation at such moments was much like an accompaniment on the piano, a thing that is heard without being attended to.' These three sentences can say more about Cooper’s use of social conventions than his entire interior descriptions put together."