The Images of American ‘Ladies Aboard’ in the Novels by J.F.Cooper

The report sheds light on a number of features characteristic of Cooper’s depiction of his countrywomen travelling on board of ships. The analysis is primarily based on the novels “The Red Rover” (1827), “Homeward Bound, or the Chase” (1838), “The Pathfinder, or the Inland Sea” (1840) and “Afloat and Ashore” (1844). This article attempts to combine the study of women's images with the theme of the sea novel. In Russian literary critical studies, special attention has been paid to the exploration of Cooper’s marine novels, while the image of a lady in his writings has been overlooked par excellence. There are articles on the issue of Cooper’s female characters in American literary studies that tend to harshly criticize the author’s heroines for them being hardly distinguishable. This proposition is seen as only partially true, as the author of the present paper claims that the uniqueness of the female images created by J.F. Cooper lies in their natural existence aboard a ship, which was quite uncommon in American literary tradition. The article attempts to explore Cooper’s unique approach to the creation of female protagonists dwelling aboard from the perspective of the historical and cultural reasons why women were banned from ship travels in America. Keywords: Female characters, American literature, J.F. Cooper, American lady, women on ships