The Masochistic Pleasures of Sentimental Literature

Critics have noticed in 19th-century American women's sentimentality a streak of masochism, but their discussions have over-simplified its relationship to women... » 

Critics have noticed in 19th-century American women's sentimentality a streak of masochism, but their discussions have over-simplified its relationship to women's power. This text argues that tropes of eroticized domination in sentimental literature must be recognized for what they were. «