Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter I
2. Acknowledgments VII
3. Contents IX
4. Introduction 1
5. 1 . Conventional Traits of the Romantic Heroine 7
6. 2. The Romantic Heroine and Her Eighteenthcentury Elders 16
7. 3. Idealized and Sentimentalized Heroines 33
8. 4. The Unhappy Victim 54
9. 5. Historical Figures Reincarnated 72
10. 6. Old Heroines in New Plays 92
11. 7. Religion in the Lives and Times of Romantic Heroines 109
12. 8. The Need for Social Reform as Illustrated by Romantic Heroines 129
13. 9. Criticisms of Heroines by Contemporaries 148
14. Conclusion 166
15. Chronological List of Plays Studied 174
16. Notes 196
17. Sources Cited 233
18. Index 241