Constructing Fanny Fern as Satirist

This chapter explores the utility of Addison and Steele’s definitions and boundaries of an amiable laughter voiced by the generic comic belles lettres gentleman figure for understanding Parton’s construction of her literary persona, Fanny Fern. Moreover, how useful are they for understanding the way contemporaries constructed Fanny Fern? Because one of the key theoretical moves by Addison is his prescribing what the satirist’s temperament ought to be in the delivery of the satire, the comic writer in 1850s America operating with the enunciative field of comic belles lettres pays particular attention to the dramatized temperament of his or her satiric persona. This chapter works through many contemporary comments to show how the critics and the reading public supplemented Parton’s presentation of Fanny Fern with their own viewpoints.