The American Abraham: James Fenimore Cooper and the Frontier PatriarchCambridge University Press, 1987 - 188 pages In this book Warren Motley offers an original interpretation of James Fenimore Cooper's career. Whereas most studies of Cooper have centered on the figure of the Leatherstocking - that solitary model of the self-sufficient American hero untrammeled by civilization - this book examines Cooper's interest in the pioneer patriarchs who built new societies in the wilderness. Throughout his career Cooper explored an essential American problem: how to achieve the right balance between freedom and authority. He did this by retelling the story of the frontier settlement and thereby assessing its successes and failures. Like other writers in the decades before the Civil War, Cooper struggled with the legacy of the Revolutionary fathers - a legacy made more personal in Cooper's case by his father's role as a frontier land developer, judge, and Federalist politician. This book breaks new ground by relating Cooper's artistic development, and his ideas about authority in society, to his efforts to become independent of his father. |
Other editions - View all
The American Abraham: James Fenimore Cooper and the Frontier Patriarch Warren Motley Limited preview - 1987 |
The American Abraham: James Fenimore Cooper and the Frontier Patriarch Warren Motley No preview available - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
Abiram achievement American Abraham Angel of Hadley assertion Beard Billy Kirby brother career chapter characters civil claim colony command Cooperstown Corny Corny's Crater created Crèvecoeur culture darkness daughter Dekker effort Elizabeth England father feels filial Fliegelman founder frontier settlement Heathcote Heathcote's hero imagine impulse independent Indian irony Ishmael isolation Isolato James Cooper James Fenimore Cooper Joel Porte Judge Temple Kirby's Lake Otsego Lancey land later Leatherstocking Leatherstocking tales letter literary Littlepage Mark Woolston Mark's Marmaduke metaphor migration moral Mordaunt move narrative Natty Bumppo Natty's nature novel Oliver Edwards original paternal patriarchal patriarchal authority perspective Pioneers political Prairie Puritan readers rebellion relationship responsibility retreat Revolution Richard romance Satanstoe scene sense social society status strategy surrogate Susan Fenimore Cooper synecdochic tale Temple's violence vision Wept of Wish-Ton-Wish Westchester wife wilderness William Cooper writing York young