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Murder and Madness
Matthew Schoenbachler
其他書名
The Myth of the Kentucky Tragedy
出版University Press of Kentucky, 2009-11-13
主題History / United States / 19th CenturyHistory / United States / State & Local / South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)
ISBN97808131735970813173590
URLhttp://books.google.com.hk/books?id=6fHUTfkQXngC&hl=&source=gbs_api
EBookSAMPLE
註釋The ÒKentucky TragedyÓ was early AmericaÕs best known true crime story. In 1825, Jereboam O. Beauchamp assassinated Kentucky attorney general Solomon P. Sharp. The murder, trial, conviction, and execution of the killer, as well as the suicide of his wife, Anna Cooke BeauchampÑfascinated Americans. The episode became the basis of dozens of novels and plays composed by some of the countryÕs most esteemed literary talents, among them Edgar Allan Poe and William Gilmore Simms. In Murder and Madness, Matthew G. Schoenbachler peels away two centuries of myth to provide a more accurate account of the murder. Schoenbachler also reveals how Jereboam and Anna Beauchamp shaped the meaning and memory of the event by manipulating romantic ideals at the heart of early American society. Concocting a story in which Solomon Sharp had seduced and abandoned Anna, the couple transformed a sordid murderÑcommitted because the Beauchamps believed Sharp to be spreading a rumor that Anna had had an affair with a family slaveÑinto a maudlin tale of feminine virtue assailed, honor asserted, and a young rebelÕs revenge. Murder and Madness reveals the true story behind the murder and demonstrates enduring influence of Romanticism in early America.