Manhunt: Laura Keene and Asia Booth Clarke

[BookClubEditor]

Who is the more admirable character, the actress Laura Keene or the assassin's sister, Asia Booth Clarke? Why do you think so?

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Note: This topic refers to events through Chapter Six. Some readers of this thread may not have finished the book. If you are referring to events that occur after Chapter Six, please use "Spoiler Warning" in the subject line of your post. Thanks!

[maxcat]

I think Laura Keene certainly wanted to make a name for herself in holding Lincoln's head. She wanted publicity and recognition for her part.

[aurora]

Hi. I'm new on these message boards. Where do you click to start the "new message?"

I haven't gotten to the assassination in the book yet, but I remember reading about it in other works. In those, I got the impression that everything was very chaotic that night and people weren't really thinking straight. All the witnesses were shocked, and the people involved were trying to make the best decisions that they could under the circumstances, especially the doctor. I wondered why the actress was the one to hold his head, but I assumed that they were just dealing with the situation minute by minute, since they weren't expecting such a tragedy to occur. This is the impression that I got from other books, not Mr. Swanson's, so I'm looking forward to reading that part in his book to find out what his views are of that night.

[Donti]

I don't think Laura Keene was very admirable. She asked to cradle Lincoln's head in her lap so her dress would be covered with his blood, which she could then show to people, for the sake of morbid sensationalism.

[Librarian]

Aurora----When you're on the page that lists all the messages of a particular board---like History and Current events---at the top left of the page will be a New Messages tab that you click when you want to start a new string of messages.
Librarian

[aurora]

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Librarian wrote:
Aurora----When you're on the page that lists all the messages of a particular board---like History and Current events---at the top left of the page will be a New Messages tab that you click when you want to start a new string of messages.
Librarian

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Thanks!

[vivico1]

I find nothing admirable in Laura Keene's actions. She was an actress looking for a spotlight. She found it, not in a blinding white circle of a theatrical light, but in a blinding circle of red, from Lincoln's blood in her lap. Here was her badge of immortality. And after her performance, she kept the dress, showed it off, her badge, even wore it for some to see when asked. But also from what I am reading here, she eventually couldnt live with it anymore either and had family hide it away. She didnt want to see it, but didnt want it destroyed, its like she needed her reminder of fame to continue to exist somewhere. I see her as nothing more than an opportunist.

Asia Clark, I may not have read far enough yet to get a grasp of what she was like, I just noticed this said thru chapter 6 and i am at 5, but the back of the book, looks like there is even more about her much later in the book. The first I think you hear of her is where it said two days later several ministers were admonishing the Lincolns for being in the theater on Good Friday instead of in a church or at home and she wrote something doing the same. I find there admonitions interesting. Even the if the most religious of us all stayed in churches every day of the year, death will find us, be it an assassin or accident or just old age. If we are killed, is it less sad because of where we are killed ? But what was more telling about her feelings than anything really of a religious nature is her line, "That fatal visit to the theatre had no pity in it; it was jubilation over fields of unburied dead, over miles of desecrated homes". WOW, what a smack in the face to the Lincolns about the war and those who perished in it, or were left homeless in the south. So I think from what I have read thus far, she had the same feelings about the south and the war as her brother. This doesnt make her less sympathetic to me tho, I read over a bit farther trying to see how she tied into this talk at the first of the book and read about how she had felt about her brother growing up, and how her home was ransacked and everything taken from her, even pictures over the baby crib. That has to make you think about the price the families of assassins pay for something they did not do. That is true even today. The families of child molesters,perpetrators of school massacres, serial killers, all pay a high price for being related, when most often, they did not know the intent of their family member who did such a thing. So I have some sympathy for her, if this is the case for her. That writing tho, mentioned before, seems to put the blame on Lincoln for her brother killing him, rather than on her brother, so maybe she agreed with what he did. It will be interesting as I read further to see which is true.

[KellJell]

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BookClubEditor wrote:

Who is the more admirable character, the actress Laura Keene or the assassin's sister, Asia Booth Clarke? Why do you think so?

---

Reply to this message to discuss any of these topics. Or start your own new topic by clicking "New Message."

Note: This topic refers to events through Chapter Six. Some readers of this thread may not have finished
the book. If you are referring to events that occur after Chapter Six, please use "Spoiler Warning" in the subject line of your post. Thanks!

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Ms. Keene was an opportunist, plainly. Holding Lincoln's head was a grotesque publicity stunt carried out by the quick-witted actress.

Asia Booth Clarke may come closer to what I would call admirable. I'll bet it's tough to be the sister of a man more reviled than any in 19th century America. I assume it would require a deep degree of stoicism just to handle life from that point on. She appears to have done so. In today's world, of course, she would have written a memoir and gone on the talk show circuit and wept in public a hundred times or so and had movie deals thrown at her.

Anyway... I'm not sure either of these women falls comfortably into the category of "admirable," but certainly of the two Asia comes closest. I sure would like to hear from others in this regard.

[katknit]

Hmmmm - who does Laura remind me of? Brittany? Paris? Some things never change! :-)

Message Edited by katknit on 03-17-200710:28 PM

[vivico1]

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katknit wrote:
Hmmmm - who does Laura remind me of? Brittany? Paris? Some things never change! :-)

Message Edited by katknit on 03-17-200710:28 PM

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what an odd comparison LOL!

[katknit]

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vivico1 wrote:

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katknit wrote:
Hmmmm - who does Laura remind me of? Brittany? Paris? Some things never change! :-)

Message Edited by katknit on 03-17-200710:28 PM

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what an odd comparison LOL!

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Not really - lots of show biz girls will do anything for publicity.

[vivico1]

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katknit wrote:

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Not really - lots of show biz girls will do anything for publicity.

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I know but still, what a comparison lol