Summary Of Captain Ahab Had A Wife

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During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the smell of whale oil, swish of
petticoats, roar of the sea, and cries of loneliness radiated from whaling communities, such as the island of Nantucket and New Bedford. The book, Captain Ahab Had a Wife, by Lisa Norling recounts the lives of colonial sea wives, whose crucial contributions to the overall success of the whaling industry has been overlooked by historians. The book mainly concentrates on the whaling widows, who resided on the island of Nantucket and on the mainland of New Bedford, which at the time, were the primary whaling communities in New England. As one of the requirements of the second most popular colonial occupation, the captains and sailors were obligated to depart from …show more content…

In fact, “By the early 1770s,…54 percent of the American fleet (by tonnage) were Nantucket vessels, which brought in 70 percent of the colonial catch” (19). While working for the whaling industry, both men and women faced arduous challenges. “Whatever it was they actually did, women’s efforts were not viewed as so much different from, and certainly not competing with, but rather complementing men’s activities” (36). Women created private schools, accepted borders, worked in stores, sewed, and ran small businesses (158). Norling demonstrates how Nantucket women’s jobs were less treacherous, but as strenuous, and unpleasant, as men’s roles at sea. On Nantucket, Norling asserts the tasks women acquired, were considered to be simply “a mite.” (38). Therefore, due to the extended absences of whalers from the Nantucket community, women procured more power in the town and attained jobs, which were inaccessible to them, when the men were present.
In addition, Norling exemplifies how women were able to gain power in the …show more content…

According to their religion, Quakers are forbidden to support wars. Most of Nantucket citizens were compelled to select a side in the Revolution. Furthermore, the Revolutionary War triggered a decline in whaling ships departing from Nantucket, because Nantucket whalers previously supplied whales to Great Britain. Both the Loyalists and Patriots attacked and burned Nantucket whaling ships, causing devastation to the industry. Additionally at this time, a reform movement was happening in the Quaker religion. These three occurrences initiated a decline in the number of people following the Quaker religion, less freedom available to women and a decrease in whaling in

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