Certain Concealments: Poe, Hawthorne, and Early Nineteeth Century Abortion
By Dr. Dana Medoro
Congratulations to Dr. Dana Medoro on the publication of her latest book.
Antebellum America saw a great upsurge in abortion, driven in part by the rise of the pharmaceutical industry. Unsurprisingly, the practice became increasingly visible in the popular culture and literature of the era, appearing openly in advertisements, popular fiction, and newspaper reports. The author demonstrates that the work of Poe and Hawthorne can be usefully read in the context of debates on fetal life and personhood that circulated in the era.