| This cultural literary history traces the development of an active heroine who leaves the domestic space for a wild environment, such as the forest, the sea, or the battlefield, and pursues an independent adventure. This female hero, who I label the "action-adventure heroine," is a very different kind of heroine than the one found in sentimental-domestic novels, and she, unlike her sentimental counterpart, has received little critical attention. I trace the roots of the action-adventure heroine in captivity narratives, in which the frontier setting offers a liminal space allowing (or forcing) women to take on masculine action, especially violence. I also trace the ideological roots of this character in the Revolutionary War period and in enlightenment philosophy, both of which encouraged many women to experience a political awakening and a desire for a wider sphere of action. In the 1790s, this character emerges in fictional narratives, often as a martial female hero. Clearly linked to the political awakening in women during the American Revolutionary War, she participates in rebellious acts and frequently in actual combat in revolutionary wars. In the early nineteenth century, these active heroines often cross-dress and set out to sea for their adventures. These early-nineteenth-century protagonists are much more transgressive in their behaviors, especially in terms of sexuality, than earlier action-adventure heroines. At mid-century, this strong, assertive heroine is found in many of the novels of Catharine Maria Sedgwick, who often reverses the stereotypical male/female hierarchies of power and strength in her fiction. Finally, I explore what happens to the action-adventure heroine after the rise of the cult of domesticity at mid-century. Contrary to what might be expected, this heroine plays a prominent role in American narratives published in the final sixty years of the nineteenth century. The advent of inexpensive sensational publications, allowed by technological advancements in the printing and bookbinding industry, contributed to the development of an even more audacious heroine, who often takes part in violent action and is frequently portrayed as being boldly sensual---yet, she is still presented as an exemplar. |
