Walt Whitman and 19th-century women reformers
By: Sherry Ceniza.
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: Tuscaloosa
Language: eng
Number of pages: 291
Subjects: Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 -- Political and social views.; Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 -- Friends and associates.; Women and literature -- United States -- History -- 19th century.; Feminism -- United States -- History -- 19th century.; Women social reformers -- United States.; Women's rights in literature.; Social change in literature.; Radicalism in literature.; Women in literature.
Other titles: Walt Whitman and nineteenth century women reformers
Description: Walt Whitman and 19th-Century Women Reformers documents Whitman's friendships with women during the 1850s, the decade of Whitman's most creative period. The book reveals startling connections between the first three editions of Leaves of Grass and the texts generated by the women he knew during this period, many of whom were radical activists in the women's rights movement.

Ceniza documents the progression of the National Women's Rights movement through the lives and writings of three of its leaders - Abby Hills Price, Paulina Wright Davis, and Ernestine L. Rose. By juxtaposing the texts written by these women with Leaves, Ceniza shows that Whitman used many of the same arguments and rhetorical gestures as his female activist friends.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [269]-279) and index.