The Saint Paul globe., 1905-03-11
HEROINE OF TODAY
HAS A HARD TINE
She Has to Marry the Hero
Whether She Wants Him
or Not

1t is quite evident that many of the
writers of fiction have never been
proposed TO, or assisted at an event
of that description, judging by
the remarkable manner in which some
of the characters ask the hand of the
heroine. OF course the hand of the
heroine should be asked for now and
then, just to keep up the interest, but
If said heroine is endowed with even
slight sense of humor she must go
off once in a while and have good
laugh in the corner. But the question
is, could girl with a sense of humor
be a heroine? How long would she
last if the funny side of things appeal
ed to her? The unrelieyed blackneSs
of the villain. the SNUG goodness of
the hero, would certainly grit on her
nerves once in a while, and some day
she might kick over the traces and,
the beautiful story would have TO fin
iSh without a heroine.
When the hero dropped on his knees
and said My adored one, you must
have seen how l love you, fly-be
mine" instead of looking him in the
eye and murmuring soft words in re-
ply, as per schedule, she would be
much inclined TO laugh and ask him to
rise and brush the dust off his trou-
sers. The mere perversity to which
feminine flesh is heir would make her
say mo" to the hero and yes" to the
lain in story better than the kind of
hero served TO us in the novel of the
day. He is so self-righteous, so GER
tain of himself, but then he can hardly
be blamed for that, for does he not
know the author will take care of him?
Just so with heroines; they can do the
most ridiculous things with impunity,
because the author is sure to bring
them out right in the end. This prob
ably accounts for their vagaries.
In one of the late novels the hero
did not drop on one knee, but remained
upright. which is an innovation and a
distinctly pleasing one, and the book
says: His hand had closed upon
hers and she had not the strength
to draw it away. No one had
ever dared to touch her fingers before
without first begging permission.
Don't you know, Helene, that / love
you!- l want you to be my wife. Don't
say that l haven't a chance. / know
that l should not have spoken yet, but
you are going away SO soon, and am
afraid | might not see you alone again.
Don't stop me, please. / am not ask
ing for your love. l know that IT is too
soon-to hope for that altogether. I
only want you to know, and to be al
lowed to hope"
Foolish, foolish heroi If he had
given a moments thought to the situ-
alton he would have known that there
D.
ties viii be given him, by the author.
to propose at a fitting time; also that
any anxiety on his part about his ulti-
mate acceptance by the heroine is
sheer waste of time. The heroine of
the modern novel is by no means a free
agent, and probably If the truth ever
came out it would be discovered that,
between the lines, She-was flirting with
the villain and liked him very much
Who can blame her? Who would mar
ry hero unless forced to by the ext
gencies of the plot? Doubtless that is
what makes a heroine such an unin-
teresting creature, because she is
forced into marrying the hero.
Now We all know that hero has to
be dead TO be at all interesting; when
alive We have not the fainteSt idea
what street he lives on or whether his
first name is John or James. Forced
by circumstances over which she has
no control into matrimony with the
hero, no wonder the heroine has no
sense of humor and seems to be in a
depressed frame of mind most of the
time. A heroine's life is far from a
happy one. With every chance to be
as beautiful as an houri, it often hap
pens that the modern author DELHI
erately chooses homely girl for his
heroine. which is not at all necessary
Indeed there is no excuse for ii at ALL
NO one can wonder that the heroine
resents it and shows it plainly through
the story. If there was ever a woman
who had a right to great beauty. it is
a heroine of a. popular book tt does
not cost any more to make her lovely
to look at and there is no reason why
she shouldn't be. But the hero, well
trained and broken into harness, never
balks. The only one to break out and
make things lively is the villain. and
1t is not strange that the heroine
cherlshes secret affection for him.