Abolition
The story takes place in the aftermath of the end of the Civil War. The abolitionist movement is especially focused on. The mission spearheaded by John Brown was instrumental in building up sympathy for the cause in the North which in turn led to enough support to create a Union Army capable of going to head-to-head with the Confederacy. One of the major characters in the story is a woman identified as being there at the beginning of the abolitionist movement and it is pointed out several times that women were the true organizing force which ultimately did see their goal met. Within this context, the abolition of slavery becomes a symbol for the belief it engendered among women that working together toward a common goal could make them a force that could stimulate social change resulting in greater equality.
Miss Birdseye’s Spectacles
Miss Birdseye is the now-elderly woman who gained her reputation by being at the vanguard of the abolitionist movement. Her single most definitive physical characteristics are her ever-present eyeglasses. She is portrayed as almost an icon of absolute purity, devoting her life to social change without private motive. The eyeglasses become the symbol of her clarity of vision which sees only those things which are truly important. The name also contributes to this association of clear vision.
Basil Ransom
Basil is an outsider among everybody else. He is a former slaveholding plantation owner and Confederate officer whose business could not withstand the pressure of a wage-based labor force. Transplanting himself from the heart of the South—Mississippi—into the Yankee mindset of New York City, he symbolizes how America has to reinvent itself after being ripped apart by secession and bloody war required to put it back together. The country following the surrender of Robert E. Lee would be fundamentally different than it had been before, forcing incredibly difficult transformations in order to adjust. Ransom personifies that aspect of historical transition.
Boston Marriage
Writing his journal about his plans for the novel, James noted with specificity his intentions for the portrayal of the relationship between Olive and Verena as a study of “those friendships between women which are so common in New England.” He is referring to what came to be known as a “Boston Marriage” which describe the circumstances in which two women lived together without benefit of any male companionship and which was assumed to be not entirely platonic. Thus, the relationship between Olive and Verena is symbolically suggested to be a love affair. Because they are not actually portrayed as living within the situation circumscribed by the definition of a Boston Marriage, it is a study of that supposedly common New England relationship in symbolic terms only.
Basil’s Hats
Although not unusually frequent, an inordinate emphasis is several times placed upon Basil Ransom’s headgear. When he is initially introduced to Mrs. Luna, he is described as “vaguely” taking into his hands a hat which is precisely described as: “a soft black hat with a low crown and an immense straight brim.” Eighteen chapters later, there is another description of Basil that focuses on his choice of headgear:” But he wore a tall hat now, like a Northern gentleman.” The first hat is not explicitly singled out as something fashionable for poor to wear in the South, but the implication is made through contextual juxtaposition. The two hats become symbolic representations of Basil’s post-war assimilation from Johnny Reb to Yankee Doodle.
