John and Abigail Adams

1776 and the Correspondences between John and Abigail Adams

Through the many letters sent by John and Abigail Adams, the film's portrayal of their correspondence seems to be accurate and similar to the actual letters. In both the film and the letters, Abigail Adams seems to be more of a self-sufficient and self-reliant homemaker than anticipated. As for John Adams, he seems to express his feelings toward Abigail more in the film than in the letters. Gender issues are apparent in both the film and the letters.

The film, 1776, showed Abigail Adams as a woman who does not seem to have trouble with getting by on her own. Even though the farm where she and her family reside is steadily going under? and her children are becoming ill, she still seems to remain calm and collected. In one of the many musical scenes where John and Abigail are communicating to each other, Abigail calmly tells John that the children have the measles and the farm isn't doing well. It is her soothing tone of voice that makes the matter seem under control and relatively unimportant. The same attitude is presented in the letters as well. Addressing John Adams about one of their children, Abigail calmly writes: "As to our Hospital to day, Nabby has not been out of her chamber these 3 Days, neither can she stand or sit her foot to the floor. She has above a thousand pussels as large as a great Green Pea. She is the Dr. says in a good way tho tis hard to make her think so." In this quote, Abigail is unselfishly informing John that Nabby has been infected with the measles, but does not want to alarm John. More importantly, the quote shows how much she cares for John's state of mind in Philadelphia. Her reason for not accentuating Nabby's actual condition is most likely to make John Adams not be worried as much about his daughter and to concentrate more on the task at hand while he is in Congress. While at home, you can speculate that Abigail is probably a lot more worried about her daughter's disease than she displays in the letter.

Moreover, Abigail's strong character is also exemplified through the relationship she and John have with each other. Women in the late 1700's were usually very willing to do whatever it took to satisfy their husbands. It was the idea that women should be obedient to their spouses and at home caring for their children and doing household chores. In