User:Female Marine

Plot Summary

First Part: The Narrative of Lucy Brewer Sixteen-year old Louisa Lucy Brewer lives the life of a farm girl in Plymouth, Massachusetts. She falls in love with boy named Henry and becomes pregnant soon after. Henry’s refusal to marry Lucy leads her to the city of Boston, which was then perceived as a port city of bustling opportunity. Lucy travels to Boston looking for a chambermaid job with better wages. She is led into West Boston, known as “Negro Hill” at the time. After her baby dies during childbirth, Lucy is duped into a life of prostitution and struggles in a cycle of seductions and betrayals, a plotline typically followed in a romance genre. Lucy speaks of the people and incidents she has seen during her three years working in “Negro Hill.” In 1812, she meets a first lieutenant of a privateer, who mentions in a conversation with Lucy that if he were a woman, he would disguise himself as a man and “rove about and see the world” just like Revolutionary war veteran Miss Sampson who disguised as Robert Shurtliff (70). Reluctant to return home to her parents or stay in the brothels, Lucy escapes by joining the Marine Corps to patriotically fight in the War of 1812. Dressing as a man and taking the name George Baker, Lucy disguises herself to go aboard the frigate U.S.S. Constitution. For the three years that she served and fought in naval battles against the British, Lucy keeps her gender a complete secret. Afterwards, Lucy chooses to return to her parent’s home after leaving six years prior. She transitions back into her life at Plymouth as a woman, traditionally marrying and living the rest of her life. She marries a man named Charles West. Lucy confesses that her reason for writing this story and revealing her double life stems from her desire to dissuade young girls from listening to the “voice of love, unless sanctioned by paternal approbation, and to resist the impulse of inclination, when it runs counter to the precepts of religion and virtue” (76). Second Part: Continuation of Narrative Lucy officially reveals her true identity at the beginning of Part Two, and briefly provides an overview of the events told in Part One. After resettling at her parent’s farm, Lucy leaves again for Newport, Rhode Island, disguised as a man. On the carriage that she took to Newport, Lucy finds herself in a couple of potential skirmishes that she diffuses the tension from; she and Master Braggadocio, and the woman who felt threatened by another male passenger. The lady invites Lucy for dinner due to her honorable actions on the carriage ride. Once arriving in Providence, Rhode Island, Lucy is tempted to visit the brothel that had once tricked her. This leads into Lucy’s digression where she tells a story of a young man who was deceived by a prostitute and fell ill to disease, warning the reader to not engage in these areas of the city. Third Part: An Awful Beacon Lucy once again returns to her parent’s farm, and this third part of her story is presented in a series of epistolary correspondences between Lucy, William, and Mr. Charles West. Lucy eventually marries Mr. West.

Literary Analysis

Gender Roles vs. Gender Identity: While gender role is a position that a person chooses to play based on societal norms according to Judith Butler, gender identity is not based on biological origins but is based on “individual performances” (14). For a character like Lucy Brewer, both this role and identity are altered especially with the gender-based conceptions of “virtue” (in terms of female chastity) and “male” valor. Lucy also further heightens this change merely by cross-dressing and taking on the persona of a male soldier. This sexual deception is praised upon in the form of reunion with Lucy’s male lover. While the act of cross-dressing can imply gender confusion, Lucy seems to cross-dress for the sake of opportunity and escape from the life of prostitution that she endured. It is also unclear whether or not she is praised as a Female Warrior for her inherent bravery or for her bravery that simulates those qualities of a male figure. Whose true qualities are people admiring – the simulated qualities of a man or the courage of a woman trying to fulfill requirements in both gender roles?

Urban Vice (28): Disorder among Boston’s social classes became a legitimate concern with the growing city following the Revolutionary War. Boston’s population grew three times its 18,000-inhabitant number between 1790 and 1825. The overcrowded city allowed for the emergence of vices like crime, violence, drugs, and prostitution, a service that Lucy is tricked into. Major reform efforts began in 1817 when the Boston Female Society for Missionary Purposes hired two preachers to spread the gospel in Boston’s vice districts: the West End (“Negro Hill”) and the North End. The Penitent Female’s Refuge and a House of Industry were also established to help reform former prostitutes. In 1823, Mayor Josiah Quincy of Boston oversaw America’s first police crackdown on prostitution. The setting of The Female Marine serves as a reflection of the people’s sentiment pertaining to prostitution and safety of the city during the early 1800s. (Page 28)

Image of the Female Warrior (Pg 9): Imagery of the Female Warrior emerges not only from literary tradition but also from social tradition. It was not abnormal for a woman to enter a man’s workforce. Between the 16th and 19th centuries, many European and American women cross-dressed to enter the military. These women include Deborah Sampson Gannett who fought in the Revolutionary War, and Sarah Emma Edmonds and Loreta Janeta Velazquez, two cross-dressing soldiers of the Civil War. For most literary female warriors, the objective of their struggle is to be reunited with friends and family. (14) From a literary perspective, the act of cross-dressing to fight has been seen in storylines during the Civil War, Mexican-American War, and War of 1812. Historically, there are estimated to be hundreds of women who cross-dressed on both the Union and Confederate sides for the American Civil War. For women who choose this method of disguise, reward and recognition almost always follow. Whether it is monetary compensation or the positive reaction from the reader, the Female Warrior is easily comprehended as a symbol of strength and defiance.

Romance Novel (19): The Female Marine is marked as a romance novel specifically due to these aspects of its storyline: “seduction by a dastardly villain; flight through storms; temporary sanctuary with a kindly protectress; ensnarement by a wretched deceiver; a pitiful death of an unwanted child; sermons and lectures on moral fibre; and years of depravity and disillusionment as a fallen woman” as stated by Alexander Mendicott. Lucy’s ability to seduce also becomes a vital element in the development of the Romance Novel.

Identity Crisis Parallels (30) Besides identity crises among people who had sexuality issues often thought about, the identity crisis of New England during the War of 1812 struck direct parallels with those of Lucy Brewer’s. Most people in the area either devoted their loyalty to England or exhibited patriotism to the United States. Those who had to accept the United States’ victory had trouble finding their place back in the patriotic realm. Lucy Brewer’s life also parallels the ideas of mercantile New England at the time; as Lucy Brewer was seduced and prostituted, New England was seduced and prostituted by British commerce. As Lucy modifies her gender and disguised herself to join the crew of the Constitution, New England changed its own identity by following rules and regulations of the United States Constitution. Lucy restores good order to her life by marrying Mr. West, as the United States enters the Era of Good Feelings, a period referred to as a “political covenant” (30). It is this linear stage of progression for both the country and Lucy Brewer that strengthens the foundations for further establishing identity and position within the hierarchy of both gender roles and social classes.

The Female Marine

Character List

Mr. & Mrs. West celebrating their union

• Louisa Baker, Lucy Brewer, Mrs. West, George, Major B: Plymouth, Massachusetts born maiden who disguised herself as a man and wrote pamphlets on her adventures in New York and Boston dressed as a United States Marine.

• Lucy’s parents: Remained nameless throughout the novel to disclose their identity. Lucy Brewer abandoned her parents when she left home to assume a position in the marines.

• Lucy’s Father: Likes her fiancé, Mr. West, and gives consent to Mr. West for Lucy’s hand in marriage. He also knows of Lucy’s Marine experiences.

• Tutoress/Mrs. Rachel Sperry: brothel “mother” to all harlots who reside under her roof on the Hill. Lucy’s old tutoress form the brothel refers to Lucy as Miss Bakes and calls her an “ungrateful jilt”, but also titles her as “Major” in conversation. Author of the Brief Reply

• Miss Sampson: disguised herself as a male and took on the name Robert Shurtliff. She served her country as a private soldier, and preformed her duty with ease and honor. She served as Lucy Brewer’s idol.

• Lucy’s commander: Most humane and experienced officer in the American navy, favored Lucy as a marine and respected her.

• Comrade: Exclaimed to Lucy, “ never mind it, George, you have already won laurels sufficient to recommend you to the pretty girls, when you return to port!’’

• Maria Murray: Known by sailors as “Scotch Maria” Lived in the brothel with Lucy Brewer in west Boston hill

• Isabella: Thirty-four year old harlot, mother of five children and had been twice lawfully married. Spent two years as a kept miss, and four years as a common prostitute on the Hill. Captivated the attention of a seventeen-year-old boy, leading him to his death.

• William: A seventeen-year-old boy who was captivated with Isabella (the harlot). Died from a sexually transmitted disease shortly after falling victim to his imprudent indulgences.

• Charles West: Lucy refers to him at William when first acquainted. He confesses his affection for Lucy and soon figures out that Lucy is the same woman who portrayed a U.S. Marine in the circulated pamphlets. He signs off “Your sincere well-wisher” and accepts Lucy’s cross-dressing.

• Maria D_______: was among one of the fairest and sweetest girls Lucy has ever known, but married a man incapable of providing a nurturing a loving marriage. She became a miserable housewife, and he broke his vows and began sleeping with harlots in Boston. She lived in a perpetual winter, falling into depression and passed away finally finding peace.

• Mrs. Grey: Wife of a very honest and respectable farmer in New Hampshire was forced to join a brothel after getting lost in Boston when visiting her sister in Boston. She could not return to her family because she felt she was no longer respectable as a woman.