Bowery culture was a contradiction of actuality and desire. In reality, these people were of the lower working class, yet they took pride in a vibrant "arts" community. They were tough dandies. They remind me of the Sapeurs of the Congo in Central Africa. They dress beyond their means (usually to portray an image of how they want to live) juxtaposed with poverty. Both have distinct representations of the self that contradict their actual positions in life (perhaps detracting the importance of dressing nicely for the higher classes-if the working class can do it, how different are we?)
Thomas Higginson criticized Whitman by stating that he would fit in with the effeminate Bowery as opposed to a masculine community. The Bowery, once a vibrant community of the lower working class(masculine and effeminate), at the time Higginson wrote, was more known for the “fairies” of the community. Higginson specifically noted how offended he was that Whitman chose service in the hospital rather than on the field – the communal grounds of death. From reading Song of Myself, he believed Whitman would have been the manly hero, saving the nation, but Whitman was a nurse. What Whitman portrayed through his writing and what he actually did were not seamlessly connected. Sometimes, Walt was a contradiction, sometimes he wasn’t. The major point to understand about this set of criticism, is that Whitman claimed himself as masculine, and an outsider’s perception did not match Whitman’s projection of himself.
Thomas Higginson criticized Whitman by stating that he would fit in with the effeminate Bowery as opposed to a masculine community. The Bowery, once a vibrant community of the lower working class(masculine and effeminate), at the time Higginson wrote, was more known for the “fairies” of the community. Higginson specifically noted how offended he was that Whitman chose service in the hospital rather than on the field – the communal grounds of death. From reading Song of Myself, he believed Whitman would have been the manly hero, saving the nation, but Whitman was a nurse. What Whitman portrayed through his writing and what he actually did were not seamlessly connected. Sometimes, Walt was a contradiction, sometimes he wasn’t. The major point to understand about this set of criticism, is that Whitman claimed himself as masculine, and an outsider’s perception did not match Whitman’s projection of himself.
At one point, Whitman said that he could fit in on Broadway
to Bowery implying how versatile he was – how he could transcend class
boundaries - Broadway being highbrow theater while the Bowery was a lowbrow version of something the upper classes enjoyed. Higginson is calling the affirmations made in Song of myself to
question. Is Whitman really what he preaches? Was Whitman once a reflection of
his writing and through his many revisions, has changed? Like the Bowery, once
maintaining a manly aura and shifting to an effeminate one, has Whitman also
shifted?
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