This weekend, I watched the Trevor Nunn version of Twelfth Night. I loved it. It’s fun and accessible Shakespeare, with great acting and an atmospheric Cornish setting. It also made me think about something Shakespeare did that romance writers often dabble in as well: the heroine masquerading as a man plot (let’s call it HMAM).
Georgette Heyer wrote some fun HMAM stories: MASQUERADERS and THE CORINTHIAN come to mind. Julia Ross wrote another excellent one in THE WICKED LOVER. I enjoyed all the things the heroine of that story learns about herself as she embraces some of the increased freedoms of maleness.
Usually in HMAM stories the heroine assumes the disguise for an external plot reason–to protect herself and/or perform some mission. Pam Rosenthal’s ALMOST A GENTLEMAN deals with this concept in a different way. I’ll avoid spoilers and just say that this is an intriguing story because the heroine has deeper reasons for going into disguise than most.
As you can probably tell by now, I enjoy HMAM stories and even have one in my idea file. I’ve also heard some people don’t care for them. Some people have credibility problems. I also once heard someone say she dislikes HMAM stories if the hero starts wondering why he’s attracted to another man. That part doesn’t bother me depending on how it’s handled. If I’m remembering correctly (wish I could find my copy in these stacks of books!) the hero of ALMOST A GENTLEMAN briefly wonders if he’s leaning in a new direction. He’s puzzled but not horrified. He figures out the heroine’s disguise pretty soon after that, so it’s an edgy riff but not the sole conflict of the story.
The one time a HMAM story didn’t work for me was when the hero, horrified by his seemingly homosexual desires, actually roughs up the innocent heroine. He also never penetrates her disguise; she reveals herself to him long after I thought he should have figured it out.
Which is another important matter to me. Exactly when the hero figures out what’s going on can vary, depending on how practiced the heroine is in the role and other circumstances. But if he gets fooled for too long, well, I begin to wonder if he should ever procreate…
So what do you think of HMAM stories? What makes them work or not? Do you have any favorites to share?
Elena
www.elenagreene.com
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Thanks for mentioning Almost a Gentleman, Elena. And I do have a favorite to share (besides The Corinthian).
It’s The Exiles, by Nita Abrams, a Napoleonic War spy story that takes place in Vienna, of all places. Abrams’ Couriers Series (all about spies, with a wonderful Sabatini guy thing going) should be much better well known than it is, imo.
I’ve always loved stories of girls in pants — because isn’t romantic love always a matter of donning disguises and seeing through them? — and because it’s such an excellent way of showing what women could and couldn’t do in a period setting.
I’m not big on HMAM stories. But all the one’s you mentioned worked, for one reason or another. Pam’s worked because the HMAM was a delicate little fop. Ross’s worked because the hero ALWAYS new. And Heyer’s worked because Pip was taken for a boy, and Prue was a tall, rather masculine woman (who’d been playing roles her whole life).
What gets me about a lot of the ones that don’t work, is when the HMAM is presented as an attractive, believe man, and then suddenly transforms into a lush, busty woman. Yeah, right . . . When I was a teenager (5’ 10” and 115 lbs, nickname “the titless wonder”) I could pass a younger guy. I rocked that 80s, androgynous thing. As a woman in my twenties, still thin but with actual boobs, that ship had so sailed. LOL!
Thanks for the recommendation, Pam. The Exiles sounds interesting, especially because of the Napoleonic War aspect.
Which reminds me that I’ve definitely heard of real women who disguised themselves to be soldiers and sailors. Though one has to imagine some people guessed but remained silent for one reason or another. Anyway, there’s historical precedent for HMAM.
Kalen, LOL on that 80’s androgynous thing! I became very curvy at something like 12, so I’d never have been able to pass as a young man. I’d have to add a bunch of extra padding and pretend to be an obese one instead. The stuff of comedy, not romance!
I’ve definitely heard of real women who disguised themselves to be soldiers and sailors. Though one has to imagine some people guessed but remained silent for one reason or another.
Oh yeah, but usually they were mistaken for boys, not men. I have the kernel of an idea for an HMAM story, that’s based on a real person, but I haven’t yet figured out how to make it work in a way that won’t make me crazy . . .
I love chick in pants books. I dont care if the chick mades a believable dude or not. Like in Shakespeare’s crossdressing comedies, it’s just a conceit that you accept for storyline purposes.
Some authors treat the theme more seriously than others. I respond accordingly. Rosenthal, obviously, did a serious thought-provoking treatment, which I still remember very vividly after all these years.
Another that I always keep remembering is Jackie Ivie’s LADY OF THE KNIGHT, a first novel. The heroine is pretty much the quiet but magnetic alpha male in this one, the extent of which I have yet to see in another novel. It also, controversially, has the hero pretty much declaring his love to the heroine while he thinks she is still a man.
As for true stories, I remember reading a book about the woman who disguised herself as a soldier during the Revolutionary War when I was a teenager. A Deborah something.
“Chicks in pants” stories aren’t my number one favorites, though they’re certainly not a deal-breaker! In the ones that are done well (like the ones you mentioned!), the author can play with themes of identity and cultural norms, and it can be fascinating. Kalen is right, though–a busty woman just wouldn’t work in such a role! 🙂
I find it so astonishing that women could even pass as boys aboard those tiny wooden ships of our period, with their extremely cramped quarters. But somehow they did. And though in some cases, as Elena said, some people must have known–in other cases it seems that nobody did.
I did a bunch of reading on the subject, of course, when I was preparing Almost a Gentleman. And I read a lot about Brandon Teena, the girl who so pretended to be a boy in Boys Don’t Cry. What interested me, as in Boys Don’t Cry, was portraying male reaction to a HMAM (from those who suspected, or those who just felt something odd).
What I didn’t to do (but what a young Shakespearean academic friend of mine took me to task for) was not following the convention, as in Twelfth Night, of having a woman fall for my HMAM. I think that would have been a hard sell in romance, though, don’t you?
Agree, I think having a woman fall for the HMAM would by tricky. I could see it–lots of period references imply that the slim, poetic, rather “pretty” young man might be a favorite of the ladies–but I don’t know how many modern readers would get into that. It’d also be a challenge to integrate that plot element with the main romance.
I just uploaded an image of a young officer from a Regency Academe I took on the military. He does look quite girlish, LOL.
LOL, when thinking about the other woman falling for the HMAM I didn’t think about whether readers might react to the flirtation with lesbianism.
Now I am remembering the in DEDICATION Janet played with that issue. I thought it was cool but did you ever get any flak about it, Janet?
I’m not that big on HMAM stories, either, because it seems so obvious that everyone would figure it out way before the h/h actually do. So then I think they’re dumb.
Oh, I love that movie of Twelfth Night!
I confess I quite like HMAM stories. Heyer’s THESE OLD SHADES and THE MASQUERADERS were loads of fun for me. (I haven’t read CORINTHIAN in so long I can’t comment on it.)
Of course, I could never pass for a boy (or man) since I was age twelve or so. Hips! Serious hips. So as far as Shakespearian heroines, I’ve always known that Viola and Rosalind were never going to be in the cards for me… 🙂
Cara
You know, I don’t find HMAM as hard to swallow as some do…and here’s why.
People see what they want to see, most of the time — or they see what they’re used to seeing.
In a world where women always wear skirts, and men never do, people wouldn’t know as quickly as we do what a woman in trousers looks like.
People also go by other cues — in a Regency, the men would stand more aggressively, walk with longer steps, speak in a different manner, etc — and so the fun part of the book is the heroine learning how to give off “male” cues.
And, in most of these books, a lot of characters think heroine is a bit “odd,” but aren’t sure why.
Anyway, I have no problem with this! In fact, I quite like it.
And amnesia. Fun!
Now I just need an amnesiac woman dressed as a man… Who’s shocked to learn she’s really a woman! 🙂
Cara
Cara,
Mary Blayney’s offered some sort of prize (see History Hoydens)for anyone who could show some sort of historical documentation of the concept of temporary amnesia from old medical journals or something.
the HMAM plot is not my favorite and I’m probably the only one in the Universe who really didn’t like Heyer’s These Old Shades, but I think anything can be done well by some clever writer, like Pam!
…a clever writer like Pam
Thanks, Diane. Though I couldn’t do amnesia — and hope I won’t have to do one of those oh, if only she could remember… oh, it would solve everything gambits again anytime soon.
And I want to mention that one of my favorite HMAM books (and definitely an inspiration for Almost a Gentleman) isn’t a romance at all, but a wild, smart piece of erotica called The Leather Daddy and the Femme, by the very clever writer Carol Queen.
I love HMAM unabashedly. It’s my one automatic “must buy” plot device. Many of them are done pretty ridiculously, though (I still like em. . .sigh).
THE MASQUERADERS was my first romance novel and still my favorite. The scene where Sir Anthony catches Prudence’s wrist and wine drips onto the carpet still makes me shiver.
Jo Beverley did HMAM in My Lady Notorious, and Stephanie Laurens did it in Captain Jack’s Woman.
Sometimes I psychoanalyze myself and I think I love this plot device so much because it outwardly portrays the inner psychological drama of “who am I really?” and “Who knows me really?”–always a continual puzzle for me.
Sigh, Toby Stephens. Oh, but wait, we’re not talking about him are we?
Sorry to say I’m not a big fan of HMAM but I’ve enjoyed reading some of those books from time to time.
I am intrigued by the titles mentioned here and really liked ‘Almost A Gentleman’
**Agree, I think having a woman fall for the HMAM would by tricky.**
I recently read Shana Abe’s The Smoke Thief. It’s Georgian-Set. One of her heroine’s disguises is a fey French Comte, who beguiles noble ladies and then steals their jewels. Very fun. And well done.
For a real-life HMAM who was not discovered until death, check out Dr. James Barrie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Barry_%28surgeon%29
Elena wrote:
Which reminds me that I’ve definitely heard of real women who disguised themselves to be soldiers and sailors. Though one has to imagine some people guessed but remained silent for one reason or another. Anyway, there’s historical precedent for HMAM.
Yes, there are a number of known examples. One was Deborah Sampson, who served with the Continental Army during the American Revolution, (and actually managed to get veteran’s benefits). I read a recent book about her, Masquerade by Alfred F. Young. There was also a young Russian noblewoman who joined the cavalry during the Napoleonic wars; I read her memoirs some time ago, but I’m afraid I’ve forgotten her name.
These women did tend to pass as boys or very young men, but since many men joined the army very young this was not necessarily surprising.
In The Birth of the Modern Paul Johnson asserted that some parents dressed their daughters as boys while traveling to avoid potential harassment. Presumably this disguise was only meant to work from a reasonable distance. (Not sure of his source for that.)
There were also a few women, like George Sand, who wore men’s clothing for the freedom it gave them without pretending to be men. This was presumably never respectable, though.
And then there is the Chevalier D’Eon, who spent much of his life dressed as a woman. Strangely, there are very few romances where the hero cross-dresses. Other than The Masqueraders I can’t think of one–and he wasn’t really the main hero of the book.
Todd-who-would-find-the-corsets-a-bit-uncomfortable
Well it just wouldn’t be Alpha Male (not that I care for the Alpha/Beta generalizations) to cross-dress. Tootsie and Mrs. Doubtfire seem more in Beta territory and such heroes seem to be less popular at the moment.
Not that I’m dying to read about a cross-dressing hero but I do like variety in my fantasy men…
First of, you Riskies always amaze me with the sheer creativity of your posts.
Heyer’s novels (including These Old Shades) have always worked for me with HMAM plots. Shakespear’s while funny sometimes cause me to roll my eyes at the sheer improbability. Sacrilege, I know.
Kalen, I’m sorry, but I had to laugh at your description of your teenage self.
HMAMs in medievals works best for me. Somehow the sheer lack of movement for the women make it far more acceptable for them to attempt the living-as-a-man thing.
I can accept tertiary women characters falling for the pretty “boy” in the Georgian far more than the medieval, just because the medieval was such a rah-rah masculine period.
Cara, your amnesiac “man” would be for a rude shock come the onset of “his” menses. Your plot would have to be extremely fast-paced to pack in a romance and a plot before that happens. 🙂 🙂
RevMelinda: WOW! That’s quite an examination of while you like certain plots. I’m almost afraid to go down that route, lest I find something totally unsavory. 🙂
Todd, thanks for your Chevalier D’Eon reference. I should look into that.
Have you or anyone else come across a hero-masquerading-as-woman (HMAW) in a romance novel?
Elena, Tootsie for me goes into the Gamma territory.
Keira-who’s-trying-to-establish-a-new-characterization
Have you or anyone else come across a hero-masquerading-as-woman (HMAW) in a romance novel?
Keira, I was going to say no, but then I remembered! MISS DARBY’S DUENNA, by Sheri Cobb South, definitely has the hero dress as a woman, with farcical results.
That’s the only example I can think of, though!
Cara
My favorite HMAM, though it’s not a romance or a historical, is Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett, a brilliantly funny book.
Eloisa James has a wonderful scene in her latest (tho it may not be her latest now) where the hero puts on the heroine’s dress to show her how to walk. Now that’s a man who’s truly confident about his masculinity.
Janet
Keira wrote:
Todd, thanks for your Chevalier D’Eon reference. I should look into that.
There are a number of books about him; his name became a word, Eonist, one who lives as a member of the opposite gender. His true sex was only established when he was examined by a doctor after his death. He also was one of the greatist duellists of the 18th century. Supposedly at one point d’Eon was ordered by the King not to resume wearing men’s clothing, to prevent him from fighting (and killing) a young nobleman from an influential family.
Todd-who-wonders-if-we-could-eliminate-war-by-requiring-all-soldiers-to-wear-a-corset-and-hoops
I only believe a HMAM in the Georgian and Restoration eras (wigs, powder, lace and all that). After that–the author must REALLY convince me of the disguise. In a true life case of a woman who lived as a man–and “married” women!–is Billy Tipton. As for my favorite HMAM? La Maupin!
Thanks for that link, Camilla! La Maupin is fascinating.