The state herald., 1900-04-06
ABOUT HER0INEs.
CHANGE THEIR TYPE in FicT-
ION QUITE OFTEN.
Green Eyes and Red Hair Now all the
Rage with Romaucists - Dress Too
Must he Taken Into Consideration
Nowadays

Heroines Of fiction change their type
so completely every few years that
one finds ones self wondering II the
readers of long ago wept over the woes
Of Amanda Malvina Fitzallen in the
Children of the Abbey" could pos
sibly enter into the feelings of the
bicycling, golf-playing maiden who
stalks, short-skirted, and loud-voiced,
through the novels of today, says the
New York Commercial Advertiser.
Once upon time every heroine was
beautiful. Then came Jane Eyre and
the fashion of plain heroines ragged.
For some years they vacillated 'twixt
absolute ugliness-wedded always to
tremendous fascination, of course
and wholesome comeliness, that de-
pended more upon expression and col
oring than Grecian features. At one
time a heroine could be told by her
golden hair and eyes of forget-me-not
blue. At later epoch no self-respect-
ing hero could bring himself to make
black as the ravens wing and whose
eyes were other than large and Ian
guorous and black as sloes. or late
the nearest approach to beauty has
been green eyes and red hair. But
: these charms have proved quite as
fatal as those of the golden -haired or
raven-tressed sirens Of other days.
Perhaps heroes change. too. Now the
type is changing again. The red-hair-
ed, or Anthony Hope style Of charmer
is being supplanted by beauties Of the
first water, but of style entirely new
in fiction. II not in nature. The de-
lineator Of one new heroine says plain
ly-and he ought to know. for he made
her and she is said to be the most
popular heroine of the day-that she
is "a beautiful girl" Somewhere else
he AYERS that she is wonderfully
pretty" Then he proceeds to describe
her. Her skirts always hang Just SO.
her belt is ever trim. there is never a
pin out OF place in her attire and she
is as smart and as trim as a crack
yacht. All this is commendable, not to
say delightful, and the kind Of good
things one can't have too much of,
even in real life. But he goes on to
smash all previous standards of mans
ideal OF beauty in women and gives
this wonderful pretty maiden traits
which she alone. perhaps. OF heroines
OF fiction possesses: She was tall as
most men and solidly, almost heavily
built. Her hair was not golden
nor flaxen. but plain, honest, yellow.
Her eyes were small-small,
but Of the deepest, deepest brown, and
always twinkling and alight. as though
she were Just ready to smile or had
Just done smiling. one could not say
which. And nothing could have been
more delightful than those sloe-brown,
glinting little eyes of hers, set OF by
her white skin and yellow hair She
had a great many other charms, men
tai. moral and physical, and he would
be a churlish reader indeed who would
not fall in love with the small-eyed,
solidly built maiden-yes. even in
spite Of the following: Her arms were
large, her wrists were large and her
fingers did not taper" Is not this the
first heroine OF fiction to have thick
wrists and fingers that did not taper?
II is more than likely that Tom Grogan
had both these traits. But her author
lidn't boldly say SO.