The Picara: From Hera to Fantasy Heroine

By Anne K. Kaler

Book Overview

Courtesan and criminal, thief and trollop, warrior and wanderer-the picara embodies the continuing archetypal pattern of a woman's autonomy. She is the sly sharpster in Defoe's heroines such as Roxana and Moll Flanders. With an ancestress like Becky Sharp, the picara evolves into Scarlett O'Hara before finding a comfortable niche as the female hero in fantasy written by women. The Picara traces the development of this character, from an autonomous woman in a harsh patriarchal society to the female hero of the modern fantasy novel.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0879725168
• ISBN13: 9780879725167
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press
• Length: 226 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 9.1"