John Richardson's Kentucky Tragedies
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8895757 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Dennis Duffy (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1991 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-22 |
| Publication date | 1991-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Canadian Review of American Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-7720 • E-ISSN: 1710-114X |
| Publisher | University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.3138/cras-022-01-01 |
| OpenAlex | W2030619823 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 5 |
I If we use the term "tragedy" as the colloquial equivalent of great misfortune ("His test just came up positive. What a tragedy!"), then John Richardson found himself involved, at least potentially, in more than one Kentucky tragedy. The first of these happened in his "real" life, and almost featured him in the leading role. He had been taken to Kentucky as a prisoner-of-war after the defeat of the British-Indian side (and the Indian cause in the Old Northwest) at Moraviantown in October 1813. There-as he records in his personal memoir—he found himself subject to stringent conditions as a prisoner-of-war in a state whose militia had paid dearly for their enthusiasm about the invasion of Canada. And when those initial conditions lightened, he managed to land himself in a romantic rivalry that nearly earned him a severe beating or worse. The chase by an offended rival in love that concluded the whole business taught him the ease with which a man running for his life can smash through a locked door. That burst of energy he was to recall decades later, in his 1851 Preface to Wacousta, and cite it as proof of the credibility of the feats of strength-under-pressure he had attributed to his protagonist in the novel.1 Professional writers never let embarrassment and anxiety prevent them from acquiring material
Art · Art history · Betrayal · Embarrassment · Literature · Memoir · Political science · Psychoanalysis · Romance · Subject (documents · Tragedy (event · American Sports and Literature · History · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Social Psychology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |