Jean Webster

American novelist

the soup kitchen operator

Jean Webster was the pen name of Alice Jane Chandler Webster (July 24, 1876 – June 11, 1916), an American author whose books include Daddy Long Legs and Dear Enemy. Her best known books feature lively and likeable young female protagonists who come of age intellectually, morally, and socially, but with enough humor, snappy dialogue, and gently biting social commentary to make her books palatable and enjoyable to contemporary readers.

Alice Jane Chandler Webster was born in Fredonia, New York. She was the eldest child of Annie Moffet Webster and Charles Luther Webster. She lived her early childhood in a strongly matriarchal and activist setting, with her great grandmother, grandmother and mother all living under the same roof. Her great grandmother worked on temperance issues and her grandmother on racial equality and women's suffrage. Alice's mother was niece to Mark Twain, and her father was Twain's business manager and subsequently publisher of many of his books by Charles L. Webster and Company, founded in 1884. Initially, the business was successful and, when Alice was five, the family moved to a large brownstone in New York, with a summer house on Long Island. However, the publishing company ran into difficulties, and increasingly the relationship with Mark Twain deteriorated. In 1888, her father had a breakdown and took a leave of absence, and the family moved back to Fredonia. He subsequently committed suicide in 1891 from a drug overdose. in Binghamton as a boarder. During her time there, the school taught academics, music, art, letter writing, diction and manners to about 20 girls. The Lady Jane Grey School inspired many of the details of the school in Webster's novel Just Patty, including the layout of the school, the names of rooms (Sky Parlour, Paradise Alley), uniforms, and the girls' daily schedule and teachers. It was at the school that Alice became known as Jean. Since her roommate was also called Alice, the school asked if she could use another name. She chose "Jean", a variation on her middle name. Jean graduated from the school in June 1896 and returned to the Fredonia Normal School for a year in the college division. She became involved in the College Settlement House that served poorer communities in New York, an interest she would maintain throughout her life. Her experiences at Vassar provided material for her books When Patty Went to College and Daddy Long Legs. Webster began a close friendship with the future poet Adelaide Crapsey who remained her friend until Crapsey's death in 1914. who invited himself, saying: "I've always wanted to meet Jean Webster. We can put up a partition in the cabin." Also epistolary in form, it chronicles the adventures of a college friend of Judy's who becomes the superintendent of the orphanage in which Judy was raised. Webster became pregnant and according to family tradition, was warned that her pregnancy might be dangerous. She suffered severely from morning sickness, but by February 1916 was feeling better and was able to return to her many activities: social events, prison visits, and meetings about orphanage reform and women's suffrage. She also began a book and play set in Sri Lanka. Her friends reported that they had never seen her happier.

Jean Webster entered the Sloan Hospital for Women, New York on the afternoon of June 10, 1916. Glenn McKinney, recalled from his 25th reunion at Princeton University, arrived 90 minutes before Webster gave birth, at 10:30 p. m, to a six and a quarter pound daughter. All was well initially, but Jean Webster became ill and died of childbirth fever at 7:30 am on June 11, 1916. Her daughter was named Jean (Little Jean) in her honor.

Jean Webster was active political and socially, and often included issues of socio political interest in her books.

The eugenics movement was a hot topic when Jean Webster was writing her novels. In particular, Richard L. Dugdale's 1877 book about the Juke family as well as Henry Goddard's 1912 study of the Kallikak family were widely read at the time. Webster's Dear Enemy mentions and summarizes the books approvingly, to some degree, although her protagonist, Sallie McBride, ultimately declares that she doesn't "believe that there's one thing in heredity," provided children are raised in a nurturing environment. Nevertheless, eugenics as an idea of 'scientific truth'— generally accepted by the intelligentsia of the time— does come through in the novel.

From her college years, Webster was involved in reform movements, and was a member of the State Charities Aid association, including visiting orphanages, fundraising for dependent children and arranging for adoptions. In Dear Enemy she names as a model the Pleasantville Cottage School, a cottage based orphanage that Webster had visited.

Jean Webster supported women's suffrage and education for women. She participated in marches in support of votes for women, and having benefited from her education at Vassar, she remained actively involved with the college. Her novels also promoted the idea of education for women, and her major characters explicitly supported women's suffrage.

When Patty Went to College is Jean Webster's first novel, published in 1903. It is a humorous look at life in a women's college at the turn of the 20th century. Patty Wyatt, the protagonist of this story is a bright, fun loving, imperturbable young woman who does not like to conform. The book describes her many escapades on campus during her senior year at college. Patty enjoys life on campus and uses her energies in playing pranks and for the entertainment of herself and her friends. An intelligent young woman, she uses creative methods to study only as much as she feels necessary. Patty is, however, a believer in causes and a champion of the weak. She goes out of her way to help a homesick freshman, Olivia Copeland, who believes she will be sent home when she fails three subjects in the examination. The end of the book sees Patty reflecting on what her life after college might be like. She plays hooky from chapel and meets a bishop. In a chat with the bishop, Patty realizes that being irresponsible and evasive at a young age could adversely affect her character as an adult and decides to try to be a more responsible person. The novel was published in the U. K. by Hodder and Stoughton in 1915 as Patty & Priscilla.

[IT] Sara Staffolani, C'è sempre il sole dietro le nuvole. Vita e opere di Jean Webster, flower ed 2018. ISBN ebook 978 88 85628 23 6 ISBN cartaceo 978 88 85628 24 3
Sara Staffolani, Every Cloud Has Its Silver Lining. Life and Works of Jean Webster, flower ed 2021. ISBN 978 88 85628 85 4