The Cult of True Womanhood (also known as the Cult of Domesticity) dominated the culture of the nineteenth century by detailing the four characteristics of the “ideal”woman. Those characteristics were:

Maria Stewart 

Maria Stewart defied the expectations of the Cult of Domesticity from a young age. Stewart was widowed early in life, giving her independence she was not afforded in marriage. As a  very religious woman, she fulfilled the Cult of Domesticity pillar of piety, yet Stewart used religion to further arguments regarding abolition and women's rights. Stewart gave lectures in public to range of diverse audiences including men, women, people of color, and white listeners. “Stewart challenged her audience, both its' black and white members, to greater efforts on behalf of  educational and economic opportunity for young black women as well as men in the city of Boston."¹ Inevitably making  Stewart a threat to the Cult of Domesticity, as a widowed woman acting in the public sphere, Stewart defied male authority and societal norms in order to further the cause for abolition and women's suffrage.

Chloe Russel

Little is known about Chloe Russell’s background. Scholar Eric Gardner has done extensive research into her possible identity and found  evidence of a Chloe Russell living in Boston, however. However, it cannot be fully determined if she is the author or if she was involved in the publication at all.² It is possible that this Russell simply licensed her name for publication use or was not involved in the publication at all. Gardner explains the "possibility that ‘Chloe Russel’ was invented by a publisher hoping to capitalize on the stereotype of the African American fortune-teller.”³ It’s the Chloe Russell found in the Boston census is the author of this text, then, the author would be a widow, similar to Stewart. Regardless if Chloe Russell was created by a publishing company, The Complete Fortune Teller and Dream Book is still open to a feminist reading.

“Lecture Delivered at Franklin Hall”

Maria Stewart gave this lecture in September of 1832 to a mixed-race audience of both men and women. 

Stewart begins her speech by establishing her authority as a speaker. Stewart sees herself as a messenger of God, giving herself autonomy  through religion. In her speech Stewart recollects a conversation between herself and God:

“Who shall go forward, and take off the reproach that is cast upon the people of color? Shall it be a woman?’ And my heart made this reply–‘If it is thy will, be it even so, Lord Jesus!’”⁴

 This makes her a powerful figure to bother her readers and her audience, because she was chosen by God for this  feminist and abolitionist cause. A woman claiming to be called by God disputed the social order constructed by the Cult of Domesticity, as explained by scholar Pelletier, “In claiming that she was called by God, Stewart unsettles the patriarchal order by contending that God is imbuing a woman with the authority to act on his behalf.”⁵ Not only is Stewart presenting herself as an authority figure within the movement, she presents herself as a leader. Female involvement was essential to Stewart, "portraying women not only as integral members of the Black resistance movement but also as its leaders."⁶ This also completely disrupts the social order, as Stewart is a widowed woman rallying other women to manifest their own power. 

Stewart argues that women are just as capable as their male counterparts, but are not afforded the same opportunities as men. As argued by Pelletier, Stewart makes “an impassioned plea for the expansion of political liberties that would afford America’s most dispossessed--black women-- the ability to chart their own corse.”⁷ Without opportunity, Stewart argues, women will never be able to prove themselves. Stewart declares:

“And such is the powerful force of prejudice. Let our girls possess what amiable qualities of soul they may; let their characters be fair and spotless as innocence itself; let their natural taste and ingenuity be what they may; it is impossible for scarce an individual of them to rise above the condition of servants.”⁸

Prejudice is a "powerful force," which gains power when women confine themselves to domesticity. Because women are expected to stay in the domestic sphere, they cannot explore their "natural taste and ingenuity" in order to prove the capabilities of women and the ideal of domesticity in the Cult of Domesticity is seen as the root cause for this  If women are never afforded the opportunity to prove themselves, they will never be able to escape the domestic sphere. Therefore, it was on the shoulders of women to cause “Fundamental social transformation in the form of institutional creation... the efforts of Black women [are] a primary mechanism through which such institutional creation would be affected.”⁹ An upheaval of the cultural norms of the Cult of Domesticity was necessary for the success of women.

The Complete Fortune Teller and Dream Book

On the cover of Chloe Russell's work, it declares the piece is “By Chloe Russel, A Woman of Colour in the States of Massachusetts.”to include Russell's race and location on the cover of the work certainly had to do with the marketing of the novel. By directly stating that the book is by a woman, it appeals to female empathy and community. Because of the stereotypes associated with Black women having  clairvoyant abilities, the decision to include her race catered to both African American and potential white readers, as this stereotype carried with a sense of authority for the book's claims. While the book is marketed towards both genders, it pays more attention to its female audience creating a community among its female readership.

The title page also declares “Directions for young ladies to obtain the HUSBAND they most desire.”¹⁴ In today’s standards it may seem backward to have a book designed to help women gain a husband, yet the sense of choice in marriage was a form of power in the nineteenth century. This book sought to help women get the husband they wanted most, viewing as a decision in which women have the power to select the man they most desire.

Endnotes