A Comparison and Contrast
of two of the South’s greatest
Southern Women Writers:
Welty and Murfree
Presented by:
Jay McGregor
Bryan Tate
Murfree
• Mary Murfree was born on January 24, 1850
• In Murfreesboro Tennessee
• In 1856 she moved with her family to Nashville
Tennessee
• At the age of four Murfree had an illness that left
her with partial paralysis
• She was enrolled in the Nashville Female
Academy, where her and her sisters learned
three languages French, Latin, and Spanish.
• In 1867 she went to the Chegary Institute,
which is a finishing school for girls in
Philadelphia Pennsylvania.
• It was during her time at the Chegary
Institute that she developed a passion for
music and poetry.
• Throughout her adolescence Murfree
spent 15 consecutive summers at
Beersheba Springs resort.
• Beersheba Springs is a resort village in
the Cumberland Mountains.
• The time she spent in this area is what
introduced Murfree to the mountain people
and their way of life.
• In 1869 the price of cotton hit bottom and
her family suffered financially.
• In an attempt to pass time Murfree began
writing stories.
• Her first article “Flirts and their Ways” was
published under the pen name R. Emmet
Dembry in 1871.
• In 1878 The Atlantic Monthly, a paper in
Boston began publishing some of her
work, under the pen name Charles Egbert
Craddock
• Many women writers used pseudonyms
that were masculine just so their work
would be published.
• It wasn’t until seven years later in 1885
that Mary disclosed her true identity.
• This made national headlines, and after
this discovery all of her work was
immediately published.
• She was compared to all of the best local
writers around.
• Mary Murfree was an American Fiction
writer of novels and short stories.
• She wrote 25 books in all and was able to
provide financial support for her family
through her writings.
• In 1889 Mary returned to Murfreesboro
with her family from St. Louis. She
completed her first historic novel in 1899.
• In 1908 she completed her first delta
region novel, The Fair Mississippian.
• She died on July 31, 1922. Sadly her
obituary was only four lines long on the
seventeenth page of the New York Times
paper.
Welty
• Eudora Welty was born on April 13, 1909
• In Jackson, Mississippi
• Her college education included two years
at Mississippi State College for Women,
several years at the University of
Wisconsin in Madison, and a year in New
York City studying advertising at the
Columbia University business school
Johnston).
• Returned home to Jackson after her father
died in 1931.
• Began working in local radio and
journalism.
• From 1933 – 1936, she served as a
publicity agent for the Works Progress
Administration throughout rural
Mississippi.
• Started publishing fiction in 1936
• Was on the New York Times book review
in 1944.
• Her first published story was, “ Death of a
Traveling Salesman “.
• She used a lot of symbolism and figurative
language in telling her stories and tended
to focus on the family and social issues.
• She began traveling abroad, but returned
home in the 1960’s soon after her first
novel was published to care for her ill
mother.
• She began writing again in 1966 after her
mother had died.
• Photography had a profound influence on
Welty’s mode of writing.
• “ Life doesn’t hold still,” as she explains in
One Writer’s Beginnings.
• Her fiction was usually set in the rural
South, primarily Mississippi.
• She died on July 23, 2001.
Comparisons
•
•
•
•
Murfree nor Welty ever married.
Neither had any children.
Both lived with their families.
Both spent time caring for their families,
Murfree supported her family financial and
Welty supported her family physically.
• Both centered their writings around one specific
area.
• Murfree’s writing was centered around the
Mountains of Tennessee and Welty’s throughout
Mississippi.
• Both women were extremely detailed with the
scenery in their writing. As if the reader was
looking at a photograph.
• Both women have been heavily criticized for
their styles of writing.
• Neither woman ever wrote an
autobiography.
• Both women had secondary education.
• Both of these women’s works are being
read, studied, and scrutinized today.
• Both women are considered Southern
Women Writers.
Contrast
• Murfree wrote during the 19th century where as
Welty wrote during the 20th century.
• Murfree began writing under a male pseudonym,
whereas it was not necessary for Welty to do in
order to become published.
• Murfree’s writing were based on the mountains
and the people that inhabited them.
• Welty wrote about rural Mississippi and
the people that lived there.
• Murfree was inspired by her annual trek to
Beersheba Springs.
• Welty was inspired by her trip throughout
Mississippi while working for the Works
Progress Administration.
• Murfree is said to be a footnote in the
history of American Literature.
• Welty and her writing are well known.
• Murfree’s death made the 17th page of the
New York Times.
• Welty’s death was covered by CNN.
References
• Ensor (2008) Ensor, A. (1998). Mary Noailles Murfree
(Charles Egbert Craddock) 1850-1922. In The
Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture.
Retrieved January 18, 2008, from
http://tennesseeencyclopedia.net/imagegallery.php?Entr
yID=M131
• Satterwhite, E. (2006). Reading Craddock, Reading
Murfree: Local Color, Authenticity, and Geographies of
Reception. AMERICAN LITERATURE, 78(1), 59-88.
Retrieved February 25, 2008, from Academic Search
Complete database Web Site:
http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.loyno.edu/ehost/deliv
ery?vi
d=9&hid=16&s
id=62138696-4a
• Tennessee State Library and Archives. (). Wish
You Were Here: Retreat to Tennessee's Historic
Resorts. Retrieved February 23, 2008, from
Tennessee State Library and Archives Web Site:
http://www.state.tn.us/tsla/exhibits/tnresorts/
beersheba.htm
• Chadwick, P. (2002). Essortment. Retrieved
January 16, 2008, from
http://nhnh.essortment.com/marymurfree_rakb.h
tm
• Eudora Welty bibliography) The Associated
Press. (). Eudora Welty bibliography. Retrieved
January 18, 2008, from
http://www.cnn.com//interactive/entertainment/01
07/welty.bibliography/content.html
• Author Eudora Welty dead at 92)Cnn.Com. ().
Author Eudora Welty dead at 92. Retrieved
January 20, 2008, from
http://archives.cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/books/0
7/23/welty.obit/
• Johnston, C. A. (). Eudora Welty. Retrieved
January 22, 2008, from
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/english/mswriters/dir/welty_eudora/
• Pollack, H. (1997 ) . Photographic Convention
and Story Composition : Eudora Welty’s Uses of
Detail , Plot, Genre, and Expectation from “ A
Worn Path “ Through the Bride of the Innisfallen
[Electronic version ] . South Central Review ,14
(2) , 15-34