Those Trifling Blue Stockings.

I have really enjoyed the poetry we've read for class this week, but the one that grabbed my attention the most was Fanny Fern's "Mrs. Adolphus Smith Sporting the 'Blue Stocking.'" First, I was mostly intrigued by the title because I honestly had no idea what the meaning was behind "Blue Stocking." So, with the convenience of Google, I quickly searched the term. Wikipedia (Yes, I said it) defines the term under "The Blue Stocking Society" as "an informal women's social and educational movement in England in the mid-18th century." I thought this was interesting enough as I read the beginning of Fern's piece, the speaker seems to be writing a rather masculine piece.

Nonetheless, in true realistic style, Fern's writing is interrupted repeatedly by everyone around her. I don't know about anyone else, but I know I've experienced a similiar situation in my academic career. It seems I can waste most of the day doing absolutely nothing important, but when I make the decision to sit down and start writing a paper, reading an assignment, or anything that has to do with school, suddenly the entire world wants to communicate with me. My mom comes in wanting me to do 10,000 things, or the phone starts ringing, or 50 text messages start ringing through my phone. All at once, the concentration I've been building up is shattered and frustration sets in. At the beginning of this piece, Fern seems to finally find time to sit down and work a story and then is simultaneously interrupted to the point where she gives in and returns to her personal life. It's very comedic.

My favorite part of the piece was when Mr. Smith interrupts and says, "Wife! will you leave off scribbling?" I know I'm jumping the gun a little, but that line instantly reminded me of Susan Glaspell's Trifles, when Hale makes the comment: "Well, women are used to worrying over trifles." It's as if the men are dismissing that anything the woman is suggesting or trying to accomplish is worth the time. To Mr. Smith his wife is doing little more than "scribbling" meaningless words, instead she should be conducting her duties of taking care of the children and performing her female duties. The same goes for Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters in Trifles. The men would rather dismiss any of their suggestions or intuitions than gather any sort of credibility from women who clearly should know their place.