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Tabitha Gilman Tenney, Female Quixotism
The work of Tabitha Gilman Tenney, Female Quixotism, has been modeled on the work
of Miguel de Cervantes’ magnum opus, Don Quixote. The protagonist of Female Quixotism,
Dorcasina, is working through a series of events to win true love which meets unsuccessful and
often violent ends. As a daughter who has a caring heart, she deeply desires to have love in her
life. (Lang, 2009)
Strategies of appropriation of Tabitha Gilman Tenney, Female Quixotism
Female Quixotism, a defining work of Tabitha Gilman Tenney derives its works on the
basis of Cervantes’ Don Quixote. A common thread between these two works is the element of
satirizing of the traditions prevalent in the society. There is an element of going against the
established standards of the society which is found in the work Tenney’s Female Quixotism
derived from Don Quixote. (Humanities Online, 2013) Another aspect which the novel of Tenney
appropriates from the work of Cervantes is the behavioral pattern of the protagonists of the play.
Tenney’s character, Dorcasina, is modeled in similarity to Don Quixote’s character in terms of
being avid book readers. Both draw a lot of their experiences from the literary works they read in
the novels. (Ardila, 2009). They derive a major resemblance in their actions on the basis of the
adventures they come across in the texts they had read. “The dependence of the plot on
Dorcasina’s “novel-mania” is the most striking parallel with Don Quixote” (Nienkamp &
Collins, 1992)
Carrying on the similarity between the work of Tabitha’s Female Quixotism and Don
Quixote is the pairing of Dorcasina and her companion Betty who are modeled to match the
characters of Don Quixote and his servant Sancho Plaza. The characters of Tenney’s Betty and
Cervantes’ Sancho have similarity in terms of being superstitious, practical and having common
sense. “Like Sancho Panza, Betty is initially the voice of reason and common sense against
Dorcasina’s quixotic delusions” (Nienkamp & Collins, 1992). The similarity between the
characters of the Tenney’s work with Cervantes’ novel is very striking.
Washington Irving, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is a magical novel by Washington Irving that highlights a
dreamy tale that presents resistance to enlightenment thinking. It is created as a sort of
environment where “imagination rules and reason falls” (Carns, 2011). This unreal world
provides a suitable backdrop for similarities between the strategies of appropriation with the
work of Cervantes.
Strategies of appropriation of Washington Irving, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
