Brief Aesthetic Notes on Some Comparative Reading
Or: Women with guns and King of the Hill
I’m doing some comparative reading. I've read Parlor Politics (2000) before, but not Revolutionary Mothers (2005). I’ve only just started the latter.
The figure on Revolutionary Mothers's cover is Abigail Hinman, who (so goes the legend) grabbed a musket to take aim at friend-turned-national-traitor Benedict Arnold as he and his forces invaded her home in 1781 (“Arnold’s Raid on New London [Connecticut]"). This particular stylization of events seems doubtful, but the overall circumstances were not.
The original painting that adorns the cover of Revolutionary Mothers is “Abigail Dolbeare Hinman,” by Daniel Huntington, ~1853-1856.
The painting of Hinman reminds me of the scene one hour into the Little House on the Prairie movie (1974) where Caroline Ingalls, left alone with her children while Charles traveled to earn them some money, hears movement outside their house.
She grabs a rifle, sits calmly in a chair facing the door, and softly sings a hymn to herself. She patiently waited to get at least one shot off on behalf of her family and home before being overwhelmed by murderous thieves in the night.
Thankfully, it was just Charles coming home late.
Related thoughts on the movie Little House on the Prairie
These notes were originally a thread on X from January 30, 2025.
I was recently reminded of “Little House on the Prairie.” Having rewatched the pilot after a long time:
It is superb television—and beautiful art that affirms good work, the pursuit of goals, and high character.
(Spoken by the character Laura Ingalls at the opening of the 1974 movie):
I still thought
it a fine thing to go
where there had never
been a road before.
We'd go where the land was
more bountiful, he said,
and we sold our house,
our land, and cow.
We packed whatever
would fit in a wagon.
I was glad pa
took his fiddle
for it makes
a joysome sound.
I simply desire television with a strong moral point of view—but that is not a scolding morality play.
A related note from an X post on May 26, 2025:
There is something charming about a woman knowing she is physically weaker and likely to be overpowered still picking up the rifle. Not sure exactly what it is but, there is some reason that image reoccurs!