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Historically Interesting Anti-Mormonism; A Slog to Read Through
By Birt Acres
"Female Life among the Mormons" (1856) is one of the crop of early anti-Mormon "romance" novels that attempts to combine a fictional story with a "true" tell-all account of the evils of Mormonism. In order to establish its credibility, the author is merely listed as "the wife of a Mormon elder, recently from Utah" (although later in the novel she is called Maria Ward). Likewise, many characters' identities are "protected" with dashes; for example, the protagonist is introduced merely as the young Miss B----. (And although Joseph Smith is identified, the second head of the Mormon Church is identified only as B----m.) The story attempts to follow the entirety of Mormon history, from their time in Illinois to their trek to Utah and settling there, but the author's grasp of history is shaky at best. For example, when Joseph Smith is killed, she claims he is killed by the outraged husband of a woman who left him for Mormonism and later died. Also, Joseph is not in jail at the time of his death; Joseph is killed in the process of trying to break someone else out of jail. So the author does have the jail correct, and Joseph's death, but all other facts are wrong. Also, the author asserts that Joseph was buried by his enemies: he was ignominiously tossed into a hole and buried. The saints, in what the author considers "humbug," buried an empty coffin containing his clothes and other personal items. Again, this is simply false. Both Joseph and Hyrum (who is not mentioned at all in the author's tale) were buried by the Saints.
But owing to the author's incalculable errors, I will merely satisfy myself with relating her story. (Before I begin to summarize the novel, I should admit that I read it over the span of two years. I found the tone and writing of the novel unbearable; I read the novel in fits and starts.)
Miss B---- is traveling to her relatives when she meets some Mormons at a hotel. She is overcome by the mesmeric power of Mr. Ward, and although she is disgusted by the immorality of the Mormons, she consents to marry him and forgo visiting her relatives in some Eastern state. (The novel often contrasts the civilized East with the barbaric West.) In Nauvoo she is further disgusted by the immorality and deception of Joseph Smith. She is privately pleased when he is killed because she believes that this will mean the end of Mormonism. She is disturbed when the Saints make plans to travel to the territory of Utah. While she does not wish to go, she is a good wife and follows her husband. (Unlike most stereotypical Mormon men, her husband is actually kind and good, although he does rationalize the Mormons' wicked behavior.) On the trail to Utah, the Saints encounter much hardship: weather, starvation, and Indians. When they finally arrive in Utah, the Saints are free to let loose their worst impulses. While not as insane as "Boadicea," "Female Life among the Mormons" does have many of the same elements: suicide, murder, child murder, beatings, etc. Indeed, Maria Ward asserts that the Mormons make a regular practice of dressing like Indians, attacking passing wagon trains, killing all of the men and children, taking the women as plural wives, and taking all of the material as booty. The story ends with Maria making her escape with God's help. Once back in civilization, she writes her narrative. Unfortunately, that narrative really has no plot, but is a loose series of depressing anecdotes in which Mormons are the villains.
One of the problems with her first-person narrative, unfortunately, is that there is quite a bit of material in her 449-page tome that is not first-person in nature, but third-person omniscient. You see, the author is in something of a bind. She began the book as a first-person narrative, with a narrator who was not Mormon and was not sympathetic to Mormonism. Thus, the narrator was a stand-in for the reader; like the reader, she was also indignant about the immoralities and outrages of the Mormons. However, when the author began writing about life in Utah, she encountered a problem. The narrator was not in a plural marriage; the author could not put her in such a marriage without "tainting" her purity and causing readers to be less sympathetic to her. So she "solved" the problem by simply relating stories of other couples. Unfortunately, Maria Ward could never have such a level of detail. Soon, the author drops any pretense that these stories are being funneled through Ward's consciousness and simply tells them as a third-person omniscient narrator.
The author talks incessantly about how women are oppressed in Mormonism, yet any woman who dares to join is immediately beset by an angry husband/father/son who demands her back. There is no small irony here: A woman exercises her free agency to join a new religion and is forcibly dragged back to her previous religion--perhaps even bodily. The author does not consider this to be female oppression, apparently. However a woman who chooses to unite herself with Mormonism is a victim.
There is an interesting passage near the end of the book, however, when the author almost--almost, but not quite--seems to argue that polygamy is the fault of women. The author seems to sympathize with the idea that if a woman does not cherish her husband adequately, that he will naturally drift to the arms of a younger, more attractive woman who does whisper words of love (331-33). While the author doesn't quite let men off the hook, she does seem to chastise women for not cherishing their men. I found this passage odd, given that it conflicted so strongly in tone with the rest of the novel in which men were the villains and women the victims.
In summary, "Female Life among the Mormons" is an interesting pseudo-history, especially as an example of early anti-Mormonism, but as a work of literature it is abysmal.
Product Description
This work contains a narrative of many years' personal experience of a wife of a Mormon elder, recently from Utah. The author, knowing as she does, the evils and horrors and abominations of the Mormon system, the degradation it imposes on females, and the consequent vices which extend through all the ramifications of the society, a sense of duty to the world induced the author to prepare the following narrative for the public eye. The romantic incidents connected with her experience, many may think bordering on the marvelous. To them she would say, that this narrative of her life only proves, what has so often been proved before, that "Truth is stranger than fiction."
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #5757551 in Books
- Published on: 2003-08-27
- Original language:English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 10.93" h x8.15" w x1.03" l,2.29 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 460 pages
Features
- ISBN13: 9780766175013
- Condition: USED - Very Good
- Notes: 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
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