Nothing bad happens to the Sub-Deb, except that occasionally she spends even more money than her lavish allowance gives her. Everyone likes her, even her older sister; she will clearly get to marry and be adored by the nicest young man; she orders her friends around relentlessly and they like her anyway.
There are other suspicious similarities to Mary Sue fictions:
I had my Work, and it filled my life. There were times when my Soul was so filled with joy that I could hardly bare it. I had one act done in two days. I wrote out the Love seens in full, because I wanted to be sure of what they would say to each other. How I thrilled as each marvelous burst of Fantacy flowed from my pen! But the dialogue of less interesting parts I left for the actors to fill in themselves.
There must be a monograph somewhere on the automobile as a figure of pre-War freedom for women. Bab buys one, without telling her parents; finding the operating costs more than she'd budgeted for, she starts a cab service from the train station. Hijinks ensue.
Most other hijinks are about clothes or money, although the War starts partway through so there is a Spy subplot and she practically gives her courtier the white feather, which horrified me but he took in manly puttee'd stride.
Project Gutenberg etext #366
So wrote clew in Fiction (20th c.). | TrackBack