3: Questions for Viewers
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Ten Questions for Viewers of The Man-Monster Exhibit
- The goal of these questions is to help viewers locate the Man-Monster print in context of its time. Please leave your responses in the Comment box at the bottom of the page.
(1) How does the Man-Monster print visually characterize a black woman?
(2) Does the characterization "Man-Monster" contradict the visualization of Sewally/Jones in the print?
(3) How does this print's representation of a black woman compare with other images of black women in American popular culture of the 19th century?
- Consider images from print culture, sentimental fiction, and the minstrel stage. Here are two examples:
Below: From E.W. Clay, Life in Philadelphia," 1829.[1]
Below: From E.W. Clay, "Life in Philadelphia, No. 11," 1828.[2]
Below: From E.W. Clay, "Life in Philadelphia," No. 12, 1829.[3]
Below:"Life in Philadelphia" [unnumbered], 1828.[4]
Below: Minstrel show performers Rollin Howard (in wench costume) and George Griffin, c. 1855.[5]
(4) How expensive was the Man-Monster print, and what class of people would be expected to buy it?
- You probably don't know the answer, but take a guess. Or look for evidence on the Internet.
(5) What might a buyer of the Man-Monster print like about it?
(6) What does the history of the Man-Monster print's maker and publisher tell us about the character of his print
(7) How might we think about the Man-Monster print in relation to the sexually suggestive Helen Jewett print produced by the same printer?
- See 2: The Man-Monster Lithograph. By the way, none of this printer's explicitly pornographic prints are known to exist.
(8) How might the Man-Monster print relate to 19th century men’s interest in and anxiety about independent women, female sex workers, and sapphic desire?
(9) Does the Man-Monster image provide insight into the history of transgendered bodies and identities?
(10) Can you think of other questions that can help us understand this image in its original historical context?
- If so, we'd all love to hear them. Please leave your answers, thoughts, and comments in the Comment box below.
Next: 4: The Man-Monster's Legacy
Notes
- ↑ E. W. Clay began drawing a very popular series of cartoons in 1828, after he had seen George and Robert Cruikshank's Life in London drawings while on a trip to England. Their work featured the adventures of three uninhibited young men on the town; Clay's focused on social pretensions. Between 1828 and 1830 he produced 14 aquatint engravings for the series: 4 depicted whites; 10 were caricatures of Philadelphia's free black population. The drawings were extremely popular; they were reproduced in a number of media, in more and less expensive forms, and were widely imitated by cartoonists in other cities, including New York and London. The comic image of the hyper-elegant urban black would soon become one of the two essential stereotypes of the minstrel stage. E.W. Clay, "Life in Philadelphia" Series. Philadelphia: published variously by Wm. Simpson and S. Hart, 1828-1830. Information accessed July 1, 2011 from University of Virginia website at: http://utc.iath.virginia.edu/abolitn/gallclayf.html
- ↑ Life in Philadelphia, No. 11. Aquatint cartoon, drawn and etched by E. W. Clay. Philadelphia: Published by Wm. Simpson, 1828. Caption: "Have you any flesh coloured silk stockings, young man? Oui Madame! here is von pair of de first qualite!" Courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia.
- ↑ Life in Philadelphia, No. 12. Aquatint cartoon, drawn and etched by E. W. Clay. Philadelphia: Published by S. Hart & Son, 1829. Caption: "Take away, take away dose rosy lips,/ Rich, rich in balmy treasure!—/ Turn away, turn away dose eyes ob lub,/ Less I die wid pleasure!!! Dat is bery fine, Mr. Mortimer, you sing quite con a moor, as de Italians say!!" Courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia.
- ↑ "Life in Philadelphia" [unnumbered].Aquatint cartoon, drawn and etched by E. W. Clay. Philadelphia: Published by Wm. Simpson, 1828. Caption: "How do you like de new fashion shirt, Miss Florinda? I think dey mighty elegam—I see you on New Year day when you carry de colour for de Abolition 'siety—you look just like Pluto de God of War!" Courtesy of the Library Company of Philadelphia.
- ↑ Scan from: William J. Mahar. Behind the Burnt Cork Mask: Early Blackface Minstrelsy and Antebellum American Popular Culture. University of Illinois Press December 1, 1998. ISBN-10: 9780252066962. ISBN-13: 978-0252066962. ASIN: 0252066960.
