Rosetta-isms: I’ll dress as I have a mind to

One of my all time favorite Rosetta-isms is from a letter dated June 5, 1863:

“I will Dress as I am a mind to for all anyone else [cares], and if they don’t let me Alone they will be sorry for it.”

I just love her! If Rosetta (the real one or the character) were to have a manifesto, I like to think this would be the first line.

I think this, more than anything, captures Rosetta’s feisty spirit, and the way she consistently asserts her independence while at the same time acknowledging the pressure she feels to conform to society’s expectations. She’s a pistol, that’s for sure.

I wanted to use the same sentiment, but while the real Rosetta wrote that line home to her family early in her service, perhaps as a bit of a justification for what she was doing, or in response to some comment in one of her family’s letters, I chose to use the line at the end of the book, when Rosetta makes her decision about what is next for her. It seemed to me an assertion of her independence at the same time that it acknowledged the difficult decision she was making and the pressures she would feel.

And as a side note, I have to say I got a kick out of thinking about what Rosetta’s response would have been if she knew that her story had been featured in both Glamour and ELLE magazines!