Hope Leslie was a dream for me: hunky, taciturn men, moonlit paddles and capes! However, I was struck by how little Magawisca's amputation was mentioned; we rarely see it limiting her movement, and it is never mentioned as a hindrance to her beauty. I then began to think about Edgar Huntly, and how, though sleepwalking could be argued to be a disability, it was the force behind the dramatic tension and forward movement of the novel. I then wondered if their physical disabilities weren't the point; if they were merely symbol to guide the reader towards discovering their emotional disabilities, those inherently related to class structure and inner turmoil.
I hope to examine how these two characters view themselves, in relation to how others view them, and what is expected of them. As Magawisca and Edgar are from different classes (and different races, mind you), I hope to come to some interesting conclusions about how disability is treated in the Native race and in the Caucasian race, respectively.
It's still a rough sketch at the moment, but, in my rereading, I hope to relate the aforementioned topics to other thematic elements in the novels, primarily violence and the wilderness.
There's definitely a hypothesis/line of thought to follow here, leading to an eventual argument, and there's also a whole school of thought/set of theories/critical lenses through which to read (call it what you will) regarding disability. So, all of that is to say that this particular topic is quite compelling and can be framed in such a way as to bring to bear something interesting (rather than just something like "hey look! she lost her arm and soldiered on!"). I don't know that you'd have space to disability in relation to multiple themes -- it'll be good just to stick to one.
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