P.T. Barnum and Walt Whitman are two
distinct markers of American popular culture, and hardly similar:
Whitman believes in essential human passions, the transcendental
capabilities of humanity, the divine, the low as sublime, the
possibility of a truly democratic republic, the power of nature, the
transformative potential of the common, and human as wanderer; and
Barnum is interested in tricking people, gaining capital from them,
the extraordinary, and is indifferent to nature. He has studied human
instinct toward capitalist ends; Whitman to ennoble the common man.
Interestingly though, their paths
intersect: Barnum's autobiography (descibed as “sociopathic”)
was published the same year as Leaves of Grass; when Whitman
claimed to have exchanged glances with Lincoln in a deeply inspiring
moment for him, it occurred within a busy crowd in front of Barnum's
American Museum. Whitman describes the building in “Song of the
Exposition” from Leaves of Grass:
"In
large calm halls, a stately Museum shall teach you the infinite
lessons of minerals,
In another, woods, plants, vegetation shall be illustrated -- in another animals, animal life and development."
In another, woods, plants, vegetation shall be illustrated -- in another animals, animal life and development."
Whitman also interviewed Barnum in 1846
for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. For additional information,
consult theses sources:
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