Folly as It Flies; Hit at by Fanny Fern — Reading Companion

Marriage as a Clash of Habits

In "A Discourse upon Husbands," Fern argues that men who marry late bring "selfish habits fixed as fate" into the union. She describes the husband who sees his duty as merely providing food and clothing, while the wife aches for a word or a line. The essay does not present marriage as a partnership but as a struggle between ingrained male independence and female need for attention. Fern uses the metaphor of a horse and carriage—"Plenty of oats, and a skilful rein, the secret"—to describe her own fourteen-year collaboration with editor Robert Bonner, suggesting that successful relationships require constant, careful management.

The Battery vs. Central Park

In "About Some Things in New York Which Have Interested Me," Fern contrasts the neglected Battery with the fashionable Central Park. She prefers the Battery's "picturesque crowd of newly-arrived emigrants" and the "majestic swell of the sea" over the "gaudy, over-dressed equestrian 'swell'" of the park. Her loyalty to the shabby old spot is personal: "it is not my way to forsake an old friend because he is shabby." She even fantasizes about becoming a "female General Butler" to renovate it. The essay reveals Fern's preference for authentic, working-class urban life over polished display.

Women's Work and Restraint

Fern repeatedly returns to the theme of women's constrained lives. She writes, "It is a great plague to be a woman. I think I've said that before, but it will bear repeating." In the Battery essay, she longs to sit on wharves and climb ships, but is checked by the imagined voice of Mrs. Grundy: "What will people think of you?" The collection's contents include essays on "Working Girls of New York" and "Women and their Discontents," indicating a sustained focus on female labor and frustration. Fern's voice is that of a woman who chafes against propriety but knows its power.

Fern's essays reward readers who enjoy direct, opinionated prose that mixes sentiment with satire. The collection is best approached as a series of conversational pieces rather than a unified argument. Pay attention to how Fern shifts between tender appeals and sharp rebukes, often within the same paragraph. Her recurring frustration with social hypocrisy and her fondness for specific places and people give the book a vivid, personal texture.

That rainy afternoon, Fanny Fern’s sharp little digs at husbands and preachers kept me chuckling, yet her weary glance at the Battery lingered. Her bluntness felt like a balm. Later, browsing idly, I found myself pulled toward The collected works of William Hazlitt, Vol. 03 (of 12) — Reading Notes, another voice that loved a good, honest quarrel with the world, speaking plainly to a quiet room.