Letter from Isabella Lucy Bird to her Sister,Henrietta

When was this written?

published in 1879 but written in 1873

Who was Isabella Lucy Bird ?

A prolific and intrepid nineteenth venture female traveller who become well know through her published journals, magazines and travel books. She started travelling in 1856.

Accomplishments

First woman to earn an honorary fellowship by Royal Scottish Geographical Society.

British Empire

was very influential at the time and therefore lead to Victorian's being snobby towards countries like America and their people

Context

1876 - Queen Victoria took the title Empress of India.1878 - Occupation of Cyprus. The British send an ultimatum to the Zulu King Cetshwayo demanding that he disbands his army within 30 days, thus starting the Anglo-Zulu War.1879 - Zulus victorious at the Battle of Isandlwana, leaving 1,329 British dead included 52 officers and 806 non-commissioned officers and men. In March at the Battle of Kambula a British force fought off 22,000 Zulu warriors. In June at the Battle of Ulundi the Zulu army are all but destroyed marking the end of the Anglo-Zulu War, it also marked an end to the Napoleonic dynasty.

Setting

The rocky mountains formed from igneous rocks are located in Western North America ( from Northern British Columbia in Canada down to New Mexico in the US)

Form

letter but does not meet the frame of expectations with no address to the reader and no evidence of correspondence/ reads more like a narrative with linear storytelling (Isabella had already published work prior so was aware of a wider audience)

"inundated in summer with similar vulgarity"

holds connotations with flooded so suggests being overwhelmed by vulgarity which she was not exposed to hitherto as an upper lady

"got up in paint,emerald green velvet, Brussels lace and diamonds" "racy Western twang"

tricolon of contempt towards American lady's opulence ( prejudice to her british ideas of women and their roles to be seen not heard)

"got up in paint" "the landlady, a ladylike Englishwoman" "San Francisco Lady" "Englishwoman"

juxtaposition of harsh cacophony of plosives (with use of archaic "got up" in paint) with soft l sounds when describing the landlady to suggest difference in attitude towards the two

Refers to both by titles of where they are from (antonomasia)

"a salient point for the speakers next sally"

sibilants suggests hissing in response to being mocked/ use of colloquial sally

"unless when wounded, or much aggravated by dogs, or a shebear thinks you are going to molest her young"

role reversal as human is made out to be the bigger threat and sense of danger is greatly intensified for modern audiences as molest meant to cause trouble pre 1950s

nonchalant tone suggests explorer experience with animals

"woke up with a furry death hug at my throat, but feeling quite refreshed"

oxymoron conveys fear and heightens tension but is broken by following clause

"air so keen and intoxicating" "Truly, that air is the elixir of life"

imagery of nature contrasts language used when discussing people and hendiadys reinforces the freedom and how blissful it feels for her to be alone which is incongruent with ideals of women at the time. Monosyllabic, minor sentence adds emphasis and tries to persuade other women to travel.

"cinnamon-colored bear"

alliterations makes imagery more vivid/ spelling is american

"upon her lolloping children...ungainly,long-haired party"

personification of animal to reflect human relationships

cannot withdraw judgment of animals as well as people

"driver...a hunter probably...lumberer"

use of antonomasia so that the reader isn't able to form a relationship with the people mentioned and instead focuses on what is happening

could be to explain where they rank on the social hierarchy list to reinforce her point that men are respectful in America even without being upper class

"Then"

repeated temporal transition adverb shows how it was constant and not just a one off and builds tension- keeping the reader engaged

"happened on... Grizzly...touched his hat"

adds emphasis to new ideas and american sociolect which adds more credibility to her story / promotes ethos

"in a somewhat free-and-easy tone to a lady riding alone"

creates rhyme and rhythm which mimicks the men's tone and how they didn't think before they spoke

''womanly dignity and manly respect for women are the salt of society in this wild west''

parallelism separates birds expectations of both men and women, reinforcing the inequality in both American and British society

the sibilance and alliteration emulates the idiom used to describe the foundation of society

"a prodigious roan horse, standing seventeen hands high"

subject specific lexis to promote ethos and as to not let her gender undermine her expertise as an explorer

"chopped-up human body"

lack of euphemistic language

"There's a bad breed of ruffians...ruffianism'

plosives in 'bad breed' reinforces the brutality of these unknown men

archaic phrasing of 'ruffians' has british origins which shows her return to her British lexical roots after previously using borrowed American sociolect

polyptoton of 'ruffian' adds to the ridiculousness of the imagery to a modern audience as it's a semiotic and the signifier with that particular word has changed and does no longer have its intended effect of relaying the threat these men pose as

use of reported speech adds to credibility and makes for a more vivid recount

"I felt like a fly on him"

monosyllabic minor sentence paired with the use of the simile emphasise how small she feels ( contrasts previous multi clausal sentences/ detailed imagery)

"the first GREEN grass I have seen in America"

graphological feature and alliteration convey the shock of finding it so late and how much she misses home (America is man made/modern and lacks simplicity)

"I did not see man ,beast, or bird from the time I left Trucker till I returned"

almost a different world, asyndetic listing encapsulates all she has experienced in the vignette

I.L.B

signed off impersonally

Grice's Maxims

adheres to maxim of quality through her use of reported speech in her stories

flouts maxims of quantity,relevance and manner as she uses vivid descriptions often goes off on tangents

Genre

Letter

Audience

Primary audience - her sister Henrietta

Secondary audience - readers of her book A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains

Purpose

To inform of her journey

Field

Travel, journey, adventure

Mode

Written