Gender roles – 19 th century A mixture of the extraordinary and the probable If the events in a story are too mundane, they fail to excite, but a sequence of completely extraordinary events fails to be credible (Butts) The adventure must be within the reach of the reader - it should be possible to believe it could happen to you As girls were presumed to be domestic, sailing away to a rip roarin’ adventure would be too great a departure from the probable – a girl doing a Huck Finn would be almost unthinkable Femaleness exists as an extension of maleness – male protector is always nearby