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"For A Single Lady To Travel": Geographic Mobility And Female Independence In Leonora Sansay's Secret History And Laura, Sarah E. Thompson

Sarah E. Thompson

In contrasting the comparative success of the worldlier, more sophisticated Clara and Mary in Secret History with the pathetic fate of the eponymous protagonist in Laura, Sansay presents geographic mobility as an essential facet in the successful development of individual female agency for the women of Early America. Although Sansay does not wholly reject the values associated with a traditional feminine role, particularly in regards to concerns about sexual morality, Sansay ultimately creates in Laura and Secret History a world in which the more experience a woman has, the better equipped she is to respond to the inequalities of power …