"In this new study, Donna Bontatibus explores the roots of the seduction novel in early America and uses it to mirror societal structures in the fledgling nation."--BOOK JACKET.

"The novels of Susanna Rowson, Tabitha Tenney, Hannah Webster Foster, and Judith Sargent Murray and their use of the seduction plot reveals a complex set of social and political problems experienced by middle-class women of the early nation. Using these novels, Bontatibus shows a strong link between women's status in America and the American Revolution's failure to free women from neocolonialist oppression."--BOOK JACKET.