The essay describes the hard life Susan Shelby Magoffin had to face when accomanying her new husband down the Santa Fe trail in 1846. The journey changes her. The high spirited young wife soon notices that neither her marriage nor her travels are the way she expected them to be. The paper reveals how Magoffin's diary mirrors the transformation of her personality. When Susan Shelby Magoffin left ‘civilization’ in June 1846, she was animated to accompany her newly-wed husband to Santa Fe and even further South. Yet, her journey and her marriage are not what she expected them to be. Her diary gives an insight into the great expectations she first had and leaves the reader with the impression of a hopelessly sick, sad or even depressed women by the end of her diary. Down the Santa Fe Trail and into Mexico shows a female who is trying to get used to the New World. She is one of many English- speaking woman who “from the early decades of the seventeenth century onward, […] struggled to find some alternate set of images through which to make their own unique accommodation to the strange and sometimes forbidding landscape” (Kolodny 3). Whether or not she managed her new life will be depicted in this paper. Are there any discrepancies between her early entries and the ones that are recorded later? Beginning her diary with the words: “My journal tells a story tonight different from what it has ever done before “(Magoffin1), shows how energetic she is by the idea to record her travels in her diary. She is an educated young woman and has already red about travelling West, since she at one time feels like The Oregon Pioneers (Magoffin 23) or compares her journey with the ones Greg has recorded. Further, her first diary entry shows that she sees herself as if she were in a theatre play. “The curtain raises now with a new scene. […] Act 2nd, literally and truly. From the city of New York to the Plains of Mexico, is a stride that I myself can scarcely realize” (Magoffin1).
Table of Contents
1. The Diary of Susan Shelby Magoffin- From the Fantasy of the West to daily experience?
Objectives and Themes
This academic paper examines the discrepancies between the initial high-spirited expectations of Susan Shelby Magoffin regarding her frontier journey and the subsequent, more somber realities documented in her diary, "Down the Santa Fe Trail and into Mexico." It explores her struggle to reconcile her idealized vision of the American West with the physical and emotional hardships she encounters.
- The transition from romanticized pioneer fantasies to the realities of frontier life.
- Analysis of Magoffin's performative writing style and the presumed audience of her diary.
- Examination of the marital dynamics and social isolation experienced during the journey.
- The impact of health complications, pregnancy, and miscarriage on her psychological state.
- The evolution of her perception of local cultures and the "new world."
Excerpt from the Book
The Diary of Susan Shelby Magoffin- From the Fantasy of the West to daily experience?
When Susan Shelby Magoffin left ‘civilization’ in June 1846, she was animated to accompany her newly-wed husband to Santa Fe and even further South. Yet, her journey and her marriage are not what she expected them to be. Her diary gives an insight into the great expectations she first had and leaves the reader with the impression of a hopelessly sick, sad or even depressed women by the end of her diary. Down the Santa Fe Trail and into Mexico shows a female who is trying to get used to the New World. She is one of many English- speaking woman who “from the early decades of the seventeenth century onward, […] struggled to find some alternate set of images through which to make their own unique accommodation to the strange and sometimes forbidding landscape” (Kolodny 3). Whether or not she managed her new life will be depicted in this paper. Are there any discrepancies between her early entries and the ones that are recorded later?
Beginning her diary with the words: “My journal tells a story tonight different from what it has ever done before “(Magoffin1), shows how energetic she is by the idea to record her travels in her diary. She is an educated young woman and has already red about travelling West, since she at one time feels like The Oregon Pioneers (Magoffin 23) or compares her journey with the ones Greg has recorded. Further, her first diary entry shows that she sees herself as if she were in a theatre play. “The curtain raises now with a new scene. […] Act 2nd, literally and truly. From the city of New York to the Plains of Mexico, is a stride that I myself can scarcely realize” (Magoffin1). These words sound heroic and show how high spirited she is in the beginning.
Chapter Summaries
1. The Diary of Susan Shelby Magoffin- From the Fantasy of the West to daily experience?: This section introduces Susan Shelby Magoffin's travel diary and establishes the central conflict between her romanticized initial expectations and the harsh realities she eventually faces during her journey along the Santa Fe Trail.
Keywords
Susan Shelby Magoffin, Down the Santa Fe Trail and into Mexico, American frontier, 19th-century literature, diary studies, pioneer life, female travel writing, westward expansion, marital disappointment, psychological transition, frontier hardship, cultural encounter, Santa Fe, memoir analysis, colonial landscape.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this paper?
The paper examines the narrative arc of Susan Shelby Magoffin’s diary, specifically analyzing how her perceptions of her westward journey shift from romanticized fantasies to the difficult, often painful, reality of her daily experience.
What are the central themes explored?
The core themes include the disillusionment of frontier life, the influence of gender roles and societal expectations, the performative nature of private diary writing, and the internal psychological struggles resulting from physical illness and marital isolation.
What is the main research question?
The work seeks to determine if there are significant discrepancies between Magoffin's early, optimistic diary entries and the later entries, and whether she successfully reconciled her life with the realities of the frontier.
Which methodology is used to analyze the text?
The analysis utilizes a close reading of the primary source, comparing Magoffin's rhetoric against the historical context of 19th-century frontier travel and referencing Annette Kolodny’s critical perspectives on frontier literature.
What content is covered in the body of the text?
The text analyzes her initial "theatrical" view of the trip, her attempts to assert domesticity, her health issues and pregnancy, her changing view of native cultures, and her ultimate disappointment with her marriage and life in the West.
Which keywords best describe this research?
Key terms include Susan Shelby Magoffin, frontier literature, westward expansion, female travel writing, psychological narrative, and personal memoir.
How does Magoffin view her husband throughout the journey?
While she initially frames their life in romantic terms, the narrative suggests a growing distance and disillusionment, particularly as she deals with her health issues and his alleged infidelity without being able to openly communicate her grievances.
Why does the author suggest Magoffin writes her diary?
The author speculates that the diary serves as a performance for an imagined audience, primarily her parents, to prove that she is happy and capable of managing her own household, despite their initial disapproval of her marriage.
How does the author interpret the final entries of the diary?
The final entries are viewed as evidence of her resignation and loss of interest, marked by shorter, less detailed writing, indicating that she eventually abandoned the hope that her life would live up to her early romantic fantasies.
- Quote paper
- Dorothhee Koch (Author), 2007, The diary of Susan Shelby Magoffin, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/90956
