Publication Title
Studies in American Fiction
Document Type
Article
Abstract/Description
Though not well known, Rowson's Mentoria-a curious conglomeration of thematically-related pieces from multiple genres, including the essay, epistolary novel, conduct book, and fairy tale-offers particularly fertile ground for thinking about the nexus between eighteenth-century didactic books and earlier works for young readers.2 At the heart of Mentoria is a series of letters describing girls who yield, with dire and frequently deadly consequences, to the passionate pleas of male suitors.3 Fallen women populate Rowson's world, and scholars have traditionally read Mentoria within the familiar bounds of the eighteenth-century seduction novel.4 However, Rowson's creation transforms the older tradition of didactic, child-centered conversion literature in response to the marked cultural shifts in the way adults viewed youth and education, particularly under the influence of John Locke. First in Boston and then in Medford and Newton, Massachusetts, the academy was the culmination of Rowson's life-long interest in female education.
Department
Literature and Languages
First Page
185
Last Page
203
Volume
38
Issue
1/2
ISSN
00918083
Date
Spring 2011
Citation Information
Roggenkamp, K. (2011). Reasonable conversions: Susanna Rowson’s mentoria and conversion narratives for young readers. Studies in American Fiction, 38(1-2), 185–203. https://doi.org/10.1353/saf.2011.0010
Included in
American Literature Commons, Children's and Young Adult Literature Commons, Christianity Commons, Literature in English, North America Commons, Other Religion Commons, United States History Commons, Women's Studies Commons
Comments
Copyright © 2011 Karen Roggenkamp. This article first appeared in Studies in American Fiction, Vol. 38(1/2): 2011, 185-203. Reprinted with permission by John Hopkins University Press.