The Inspiration for Unruly Human Hearts

How my advocacy for women’s rights and gender equality inspired my debut novel Unruly Human Hearts

I first became interested in exploring the Beecher-Tilton scandal of the Reconstruction era while teaching a graduate class on US history at the University of Puerto Rico. At first, my students didn’t seem too interested in the 1875 trial of the most famous preacher in the United States, Henry Ward Beecher, for adultery with Elizabeth Tilton, the wife of journalist Theodore Tilton.

However, once I mentioned that the scandal had some similarities to Bill Clinton’s impeachment for the alleged cover-up of sexual intimacies with Monica Lewinsky, they began to participate actively in the discussion.  A young man said that both President Clinton and Reverend Beecher survived the scandal. Yeah, said a young woman, but what about Monica and Elizabeth?

My student’s assumption that the woman involved fared worse than her male lover, inspired me to delve deeper into historical studies of the Beecher-Tilton scandal. Elizabeth seemed to be a conventional woman who accepted the traditional female role and identified herself primarily as housewife and mother. She didn’t have an independent source of income. It wasn’t hard for me to comprehend her world, because I was a schoolgirl in the 1950s when conservative culture promoted the ideal of women as homemakers. I was a bit of a nerd and the idea that brainy girls are unattractive made me feel trapped.

I didn’t want to feel obliged to hide my intellectual interests to be popular or give up yearnings for a meaningful career. The 1960s message of women’s liberation felt like a breath of fresh air. I participated in demonstrations and joined a conscious-raising group. We talked about how women were defined as the “second sex” and how limited women’s options were. My feminist friends helped me define my goal to pursue an academic career and preserve my independence while becoming a wife and mother. 

Most of the historical studies of the Beecher-Tilton scandal pictured Elizabeth as a weak personality, a woman who gave in to both her husband and her lover and couldn’t keep her story straight. Given my own experiences with the conservative culture of the 1950s, I suspected that this interpretation was not only simplistic but borderline misogynistic. Elizabeth never had the opportunity to openly question the secondary supportive role assigned to women, but that doesn’t necessarily mean she submitted quietly to the dictates of a conservative society.

Was she seduced by a manipulative minister, or was her love for Henry a declaration that she had as much right as any man to follow her own heart? Was she a passive victim, or a heroine who courageously tried to protect both her husband and her lover as well as defend herself against public condemnation and possible loss of everything meaningful in her life, including her children?

I was also intrigued by the personality of Theodore Tilton, the man who named his wife Elizabeth as correspondent when he sued her pastor for adultery.  Theodore championed many liberal and radical causes, including suffrage for freed slaves and for women. He was also a fervent advocate of free love, which had many similarities with the concept of open marriage that caused considerable controversy in my time. If you really believed in free love, how could you sue your wife’s lover for adultery?

I remembered that a friend in my consciousness-raising group said it was convenient for men to give lip service to monogamy so that their wives would remain faithful while they indulged the male privilege of sleeping around. “Yes, that’s true”, I said. “Perhaps open marriage would enable both sexes to be honest with each other.”  Another friend laughed loudly and said her ex had claimed to be a strong advocate of open relationships. “How did that work out?” I asked. “Just fine,” she replied, “until I told him I had feelings for another man. You don’t want to know what happened next!”

While reading through the historical sources, I asked myself whether Theodore was a hypocrite who advocated free love in public and practiced the double standard in private. When I first became a feminist, I thought the demand for gender equality was all about women’s rights. Later, I realized that gender inequality can have negative consequences for men as well.

Most conservative societies put great emphasis on the concept of male honor, which can be quite a burden. Theodore had been successful as a journalist who supported radical ideas before and during the Civil War, but in the more conservative Reconstruction era, his career was floundering. Henry, on the other hand, continued to be the most famous preacher of his time. The double standard was certainly involved, but could fear of the loss of male honor have made it more difficult for Theodore to overcome jealousy?

And what about Beecher? Clearly his experiences as a young child, when his father instilled in him the fear of being a sinner predestined to go to hell, encouraged him to advocate of replacing the Calvinist doctrine of retribution with the gospel of love and forgiveness. His success in popularizing this new interpretation of Christianity gave him considerable power and influence, enabling him to cultivate an adoring female following. Was he genuinely in love with Elizabeth or was he just seducing a parishioner with beautiful words about the saving grace of love?

My first attempt to write about the Beecher-Tilton scandal was preparing an academic article on the case. I wasn’t satisfied. My experiences in the women’s liberation movement, and my conviction that gender inequality has negative consequences for both sexes, convinced me that powerful social pressures on each of the three participants in the triangle had provoked complex and conflicting emotions that could only be unraveled in a novel about love, loyalty and betrayal.

 

Bio:

Barbara Southard grew up in New York, earned a PhD from the University of Hawaii, and served as professor in the History Department of the University of Puerto Rico. In addition to academic publications on women’s history, she is the author of The Pinch of the Crab, a short story collection set in Puerto Rico, exploring social conflicts of island life, mostly from the perspective of women and girls. In her debut novel Unruly Human Hearts, Barbara once again explores social conflict from the point of view of the woman involved in a different place and epoch. She has also been active in raising funds for the Shonali Choudhury Fund of the Community Foundation of Puerto Rico, helping local community organizations working to protect women from domestic violence.   

About the book: 

Elizabeth Tilton, a devout housewife, shares liberal ideals with her journalist husband, Theodore, and her pastor, Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, both influential reformers of the Reconstruction Era. She is torn between admiration for her husband’s stand on women’s rights and resentment of his dominating ways. When Theodore justifies his extramarital affairs in terms of the “free love” doctrine that marriage should not restrict other genuine loves, she finds the courage to express her feelings for Reverend Beecher. The three partners in this triangle struggle with love, desire, jealousy, fear of public exposure, and legal battles.

Once passion for her pastor undermines the moral certainties of her generation, Elizabeth enters uncharted territory. Telling the truth may cost her everything. Can a woman accustomed to following the lead of men find her own path and define her own truth?

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Category: On Writing