Manhood Lost: Fallen Drunkards and Redeeming Women in the Nineteenth-Century United States

by Elaine Frantz Parsons

Book Overview

In fiction, drama, poems, and pamphlets, nineteenth-century reformers told the familiar tale of the decent young man who fell victim to demon rum: Robbed of his manhood by his first drink, he slid inevitably into an abyss of despair and depravity. In its discounting of the importance of free will, argues Elaine Frantz Parsons, this story led to increased emphasis on environmental influences as root causes of drunkenness, poverty, and moral corruption--thus...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801871662
• ISBN13: 9780801871665
• Release Date: June 2003
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.4" x 9.3"