By Riley Dauber ’25

Major: English; Minors: Journalism, Editing, & Publishing, Communications & Media Studies, and Gender Studies

Contributor Biography: Riley Dauber is a senior majoring in English with minors in Journalism, Editing, and Publishing; Communication and Media Studies; and Gender Studies. She believes “women’s stories matter” and loves writing about the male gaze and women’s bodies. When she isn’t living at the Publications House as Editor-in-Chief of The Elm, she is working at the Writing Center or writing detailed movie reviews on Letterboxd.

Brief Description: The final assignment for the class was to select a Sophie Kerr story and research its themes. “His Mark” caught my attention because of how spooky the title is, and I chose to focus on how marriage serves as both a trap and an escape for the women in the story, how the heroine is both a traditional and New Woman figure, and how Kerr utilizes dialect. I connected these themes to articles about modernist fiction and the roles women played in these stories. 

The following was written for ENG 394-11: Feminist Modernisms

Sophie Kerr’s 1918 short story “His Mark,” published in The Saturday Evening Post, mixes spiritualism and sensationalism with themes of marital expectations and gender roles. The heroine, Lidie Owens, comes home after her husband, Chet, dies. Her abusive father, Wesley Fleetwood, is not happy with her return, since she defied him by marrying a man he did not approve of. He pokes fun at Chet and his lack of education, specifically the fact that he did not know how to write his own name; Chet had to put “his mark” on the wedding certificate. Lidie survives her father’s abuse by returning to the place she and Chet courted. She finds strength from her late husband and gains power by standing up to her father and choosing not to remarry. Despite the focus on Lidie and her character growth, the story ends with Chet’s ghost killing Wesley and marking him. Kerr’s use of sensationalism and melodrama piques her reader’s interest while also introducing them to themes of class and marital behaviors. Lidie is a transitional female character due to her mix of traditional and New Woman traits. She relies on her late husband for strength and protection but also shows interest in a career and defies her abusive father.

While Lidie escapes her father’s abuse by marrying Chet, her mother, Mary, remains trapped in her marriage. When Lidie returns home a widow, she bonds with her mother over their shared marital concerns. Kerr writes, “For the first time in her life, Lidie saw her mother as another woman — one who had been young, like herself, and like herself had loved and happily put on the golden circlet of her wedding ring. And yet — there was something wrong with the picture” (“His Mark” 49). This scene allows Kerr to illustrate the way that marriage can either be a trap or an escape for women. Mary confesses that Wesley was always cruel, even before they married, but that she hoped she would be able to change him, showing her naivety and youth. She thought she would have some power in the relationship, but Wesley prevented this due to his need for masculine control. Readers receive Mary’s perspective in a monologue: “Because I was a fool! I thought I c’d make him do my way. I thought I c’d manage ’im. He was dead set on getting’ me an’ I thought he was in love with me. We hadn’t been married a week before I knew he wanted me because he thought I was the best cook and washer in the neighborhood” (“His Mark” 49). Mary hoped she could “manage” Wesley, which shows the expectations placed on wives during this time. She was valued for her cooking and cleaning skills, which are expected of a good housekeeper, and she could provide Wesley with children. While Mary hoped she would have some power over Wesley in their marriage, this monologue shows her lack of control and that Wesley chose to marry her because he believed she would fall under his patriarchal control.

Like Kerr, Elizabeth Robins subverts the notion that marriage provides safety and security for the wife in her short story “Under His Roof” (1913). The story follows two women named Miranda and Esther. The former wants to join the suffrage movement, while the latter wants to stay in the safety of her late husband’s house. Esther tells Miranda, “You — won’t do it. You’ll stay here tonight and tomorrow” (Robins 599). She believes Miranda will die if she leaves and joins the suffrage movement; this decision also represents women finding power and entering the public sphere, which Esther views as dangerous. In “His Mark,” Mary knows Lidie must marry to leave the private, domestic sphere and avoid her father’s abuse. Kerr writes, “She saw it as Lidie’s escape, definite and final, from the dreary coldness of home” (“His Mark” 14). While marriage is an escape for Lidie, it is a trap for her mother. Robins also proves that marriage does not always guarantee safety and punishes Esther for not joining the women’s movement. After Miranda leaves, Esther slinks off to bed; however, the roof crumbles and crushes her. The roof previously represented safety and security, but now it leads to Esther’s death.

Unlike her mother, Lidie finds an opportunity to escape her father’s abuse through marriage. She found some power over him by marrying a man he disapproved of, but now that Chet has died, she must return home, as is custom for widows in rural families (see glossary). Throughout the story, Kerr shows that Lidie is the only member of the family who attempts to gain power over Wesley; Mary and her sons are aware of the abuse but are unable to fight back. Kerr writes, “He was a master tyrant, and it had been a bitter blow to him when Lidie had married against his will” (“His Mark” 15). Wesley is used to controlling the family, which includes selecting an eligible husband for his daughter. Although he disapproved of Chet because of his lack of education, Lidie defied him and married Chet. Wesley still harbors this hatred for his daughter, as it reminds him of a time he lost control.

Lidie is a transitional female figure instead of a traditional or New Woman heroine because she both relies on her late husband and gains power by defying her abusive father. According to Maureen Honey, roles for women in fiction were shifting in response to real-life cultural changes. Marriage was not the main priority, as more and more women could enter the workforce and financially support themselves. This cultural shift presents Lidie with more opportunities than her mother has, which supports Kerr’s idea that marriage was either an escape or a trap. Honey writes, “The New Woman heroine’s flight from a small town, where her mother endures a selfless, unstimulating existence, signals the shattering of an old consensus about the nature of women and progress” (89). Lidie can leave home and enter the public sphere when she marries Chet, but her mother is stuck in an abusive marriage. However, widows from rural families were expected to return home, so Chet’s death plays a crucial role in Lidie’s identification as a transitional female character. The unfortunate circumstance and her father’s abuse prevent her from fully embracing the New Woman identity.

Ten years after the publication of “His Mark,” Kerr included a New Woman character named Marty in her short story “This Little Girl” (1928). Marty considers accepting the security of a marriage with Bert, a man from her hometown, but she rejects this traditional life to pursue her career as a dancer. Kerr writes, “She could have the nice house, the good food, the freedom from care. She’d be sheltered, protected, cherished” (“This Little Girl” 8). Although Bert would support her financially, Marty realizes she would be unhappy marrying him because she would lose her own independence and freedom. She wants to focus on herself and her dancing career, even if it means struggling financially. This opportunity is not available for Lidie because of the rural setting, her lack of artistic interest, and her father’s abuse. She does consider leaving home and pursuing a career, but readers do not know if she decides to do so since the story ends with Wesley’s death. This sensationalist ending ignores Lidie’s character growth and the story’s grounded themes of marital behaviors and female representation.

Lidie possesses some traditionally feminine traits because of her overreliance of her late husband, Chet. When she returns home, she is awash with memories and returns to the place where she and Chet courted. She attempts to recreate the lost part of herself by acting the way she did when he was still alive. Lidie says, “I’m here where we used to meet. Come back to me now! Come back to me now! I’ll never get through the days without you, honey” (“His Mark” 16). In response, the trees and wind start to move around her, representing Chet’s spirit. This inclusion of spiritualism helps interest readers and grounds the conversation on marital behaviors.

Lidie’s relationship with Chet’s ghost also helps her survive her father’s abuse; she does not find the strength within herself to defy her father but finds it from Chet and his support. In the final confrontation with her father, Lidie feels Chet’s presence and derives power from it. Kerr writes, “She could feel Chet Owens’ mighty arms round her, his promise to protect her upholding her” (“His Mark” 54). The wife’s overreliance on her late husband is also found in Kerr’s “The Return” (1927). Even though it was published nine years after “His Mark,” the heroine, Alice, also struggles after her husband, Walter, dies; she hopes to connect with her late husband’s memory through mediums. This theme of spiritualism is also present in “His Mark” when Lidie speaks to and derives strength from Chet. The description of Alice’s relationship with Walter is like Lidie’s relationship with Chet: “His nearness drew her, his tenderness wrapped her round, a shield, a protection, a living warmth. She was but part of him, subordinate, and willingly. She felt she would shape everything of herself to him, his wishes, his desires, his self” (“The Return” 60). Because she was so close to Walter, Alice struggles to find independence and a new purpose in her life after his death. Like Alice, Lidie feels Chet’s presence when she returns home and talks to him. The two women are also similar due to their future life goals. While Lidie wants to find a career to support herself instead of remarrying, Alice plans to take over Walter’s charity efforts. Both women embrace traditionally feminine traits, such as their overreliance of their husbands, and New Women traits, such as their desire for financial independence.

Lidie exhibits transitional woman traits by growing as a character throughout the story in response to Chet’s death and her father’s abuse. She knows she wants to stay loyal to her late husband by not remarrying, so she will do anything to avoid that fate, even if it means facing her father’s abuse. While she relies on Chet for strength, Lidie starts to embody the New Woman trope when she learns her father is planning to remarry her to Tom Willis. This decision provides Wesley with an opportunity to control his daughter. However, Lidie maintains control by insisting that she will not remarry. She still relies on Chet for strength and guidance, but also takes action, which shows her ability to balance traditional and New Woman traits. Kerr writes, “For the first time in her life Lidie found herself determining on a high and independent course of action…This was not the Lidie of clinging hands and dependent spirit — or the Lidie of the wedding dress, which she must show as a sign and symbol of her devotion. This was an older, graver Lidie, whose curving youthful lips were set with purpose and whose childlike eyes were lit with resolution” (“His Mark” 53). By mentioning Lidie’s actions throughout the story, including the “clinging hands” and “the wedding dress,” Kerr shows how the heroine has grown as a character. Lidie also considers leaving home and pursuing a career, which introduces a potential way for her to escape her father’s abuse separate from remarrying. She tells Chet, “If pa tries to put this on me I’ll go hire out. I can earn my keep anywhere — I know it” (“His Mark” 53). She plans to gain independence and financially support herself with a career, even though she will have to leave her mother behind. This generational difference shows the varying opportunities for women; the younger Lidie can leave home and find a job, while her mother is trapped in her marriage.

Lidie embraces the New Woman trope when she stands up to her father and maintains control in her love life. She wishes to stay loyal to Chet by not remarrying. However, her father hopes to regain the power he previously lost by marrying her off to Tom Willis. Lidie tells her father, “Tom Willis ain’t asked me to marry him. An’ I don’t suppose he ever thought of such a thing. But if he did — If he asked me — I wouldn’t have him” (“His Mark” 54). She gains control and power in this scene as she makes an important decision about her future. Despite her overreliance on Chet in earlier scenes, she does defy her abusive father, proving that she possesses both traditional and New Woman traits.

In addition to discussing marital and gender expectations, Kerr also introduces a connection between class and race through her use of dialect. Dialect fiction, which put an “emphasis on grammatically and typographically distorted language,” was a favorite in The Saturday Evening Post, which is where “His Mark” was published (McKible 7). According to Adam McKible, Saturday Evening Post editor George Horace Lorimer frequently published dialect stories written by white authors. These stories utilized stereotypes and caricatures to make fun of people of color, and because the magazine was so popular, this mistreatment was normalized (McKible 5). While “His Mark” does not feature any characters of color, the Fleetwoods do shorten their words due to their regional dialect, and Wesley calls Chet the n-word to signify class differences.

According to Donna Campbell, regional fiction often connects class and race, which is evident in “His Mark” (39). Wesley looks down on his late son-in-law, criticizing his lack of education and his inability to write his own name. Wesley calling Chet the n-word illustrates the way that the racial slur was used to indicate a class difference, even though Wesley shows that he is also uneducated through his dialect. When Lidie returns home in her mourning clothes, a physical reminder of Wesley’s lost control over his daughter, he says, “Shame enough to have my only daughter, that went clean through grammar school, marry a piece of low-down truck that couldn’t even write his name! Had to put an X mark on y’r weddin’ certif’cate” (“His Mark” 15). This speech is ironic because Wesley is criticizing Chet’s lack of education while he shortens and condenses his own words due to his manner of speaking and lack of education. He is also attempting to control Lidie by forcing her to overcome her grief and not wear her mourning clothes; he does not want any reminder of his daughter’s marriage because she defied him. Even though his daughter is grieving, Wesley keeps bringing up her late husband and his lack of education. The fact that Chet could not sign his own name is the only flaw Wesley can find in the young man, so he continues to mention it to gain power and belittle his daughter and her late husband.

Wesley tries to control his family by forcing Lidie to remarry Tom, who he believes is a better fit than Chet due to his class status and education. Before his death, Wesley tells Lidie, “You wouldn’t have a man that’s a dozen time too good f’r y’, because you oncet had the proud honor of bein’ the wife of the lowest-down poor white trash that could be scraped up in the whole country” (“His Mark” 54). Not only does this monologue continue to show Wesley’s lack of education through his dialect, but it also represents his continual attempts to control Lidie. He will force her to marry any man that he views as better than Chet, despite her own wish not to remarry.

Wesley’s constant mentions of Chet’s mark and his lack of education lead to his death. After Wesley’s speech to Lidie, he grabs at his chest and starts convulsing in pain. Kerr writes, “The two women ceased their terrified ministrations and clung together. Across the dying man’s face there was a great red wheal, cross-shaped, standing out from the whitening flesh about it as clearly as though done with paint. It was Chet Owens’ mark” (“His Mark” 54). This moment of sensationalism allows Kerr to interest her readers while also introducing them to themes of class and patriarchal control. Chet protects his wife from beyond the grave and punishes Wesley by marking him. Wesley thought he was above Chet and would frequently belittle his lack of education, but these actions lead to his death.

The connections between class and race are also present when Wesley calls Chet the n-word. Although there are no characters of color in the story, the word’s use does imply that Wesley associates Chet’s lack of education with people of color. He says, “I reckon you ain’t above doin’ a little common work, seein’a how your husband couldn’t even write his name; had to make his mark, like a n—– — thisaway” (“His Mark” 16). The dialect and racial slurs were typical among the stories published in The Saturday Evening Post, but Kerr uses the word here to show Wesley’s connection between education and people of color. However, his own lack of education is on display in his dialogue due to his regional dialect.

Lidie’s reliance on her late husband for strength and her defiance of her abusive father show her ability to balance between the traditional and New Woman roles. Since the story concludes with Wesley’s death, readers do not see Lidie’s future or discover whether she continued to grow by finding a job and financially supporting herself. This emphasis on Wesley’s death at the hands of Chet’s ghost shows how Kerr hoped to interest her readers with sensationalist techniques while integrating grounded themes, and her use of dialect also incorporates a connection between race and class that was popular in the regional fiction genre. In “His Mark,” Kerr questions whether marriage is a trap or an escape for women while introducing readers to a transitional heroine.

Glossary

1. “But after a little she made an effort and slowly, painfully started toward the house” (pp. 14): Rural women were expected to return home after their husband’s death instead of sustaining themselves or striking out on their own.
2. Valise (pp. 14): a traveling case or portmanteau, now usually made of leather and of a size suitable for carrying by hand, formerly also for strapping to the saddle of a horse. Definition courtesy of the Oxford English Dictionary.
3. “‘And I had to get me some mournin’ clothes.’ She dropped her hand down on the sleazy black fabric of her skirt” (pp. 14): Widows were expected to wear black clothing for about a year following their husband’s death.
4. “He drew a great sprawling cross on the tablecloth with the handle of his knife and looked at the girl tauntingly” (pp. 16): Chet was unable to write his own name on the wedding certificate, so he instead drew a mark resembling a cross. The mark represents his lack of education and ends up being Wesley’s demise at the story’s conclusion.
5. “Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish; / Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal” (pp. 49): This hymn is called “Come, Ye Disconsolate.” It was written and revised by Thomas Moore in 1816. Information courtesy of Hymnary.org.

Works Cited

Campbell, Donna. “‘Written with a Hard and Ruthless Purpose’: Rose Wilder Lane, Edna Ferber, and Middlebrow Regional Fiction.” Middlebrow Moderns: Popular American Women Writers of the 1920s, edited by Lisa Botshon and Meredith Goldsmith. Northeastern University Press, 2003, pp. 25-44.

Honey, Maureen. “Feminist New Woman Fiction in Periodicals of the 1920s.” Middlebrow Moderns: Popular American Women Writers of the 1920s, edited by Lisa Botshon and Meredith Goldsmith. Northeastern University Press, 2003, pp. 87-109.

Kerr, Sophie. “His Mark.” The Saturday Evening Post, 1918, pp. 14-54.

–. “Return: A novel of love and sacrifice.” 1927, pp. 19-116.

–. “This Little Girl.” The Washington College Magazine, 2017, pp. 1-8.

McKible, Adam. “Introduction.” Circulating Jim Crow: The Saturday Evening Post and the War Against Black Modernity. Columbia University Press, 2024, pp. 1-32.

Robins, Elizabeth. “Under His Roof: A Story of Two Women Who Had Loved One Man.” Good Housekeeping Magazine, 1913, pp. 592-602.

An illustration from “His Mark” by Sophie Kerr