Anthony Trollope's Unusual Approach To Femininity in "A Ride Across Palestine" Molly Lambert College

Victorian England was a historical context in which masculinity prevailed. Men were celebrated for their adventurous and explorative accomplishments. The same cannot be said for the women of the era. While men were encouraged to go on adventures, explore, and engage in masculine activities, women were thrust into the background. The same can be said for the literature of the Victorian era, especially stories that center around tales of adventure. Masculinity has been the main ingredient of adventure stories for as long as the genre has existed. Femininity on the other hand, while always present, is usually not the main theme. That being said, femininity does play a major role in making adventure stories what they are. While encouraging masculinity was the main goal of Victorian era adventure stories, perhaps they provided some inspiration to the women of the era as well. Without femininity, stories such as Anthony Trollope’s “A Ride Across Palestine”, would have no climax, and no real theme. In his story, Trollope celebrates femininity in an unusual way, first with tricking his audience about his female characters gender, and then giving her qualities that were not usually associated with females during the Victorian era.

In “...