Different Girls — Edition Insights

The War Within: Howells's Critique of Jingoism

In 'Editha,' Howells uses the romance plot to dissect the rhetoric of patriotic duty. Editha's letter urging Gearson to enlist is framed as a 'sacrifice' for her country, but the narrative undercuts her self-righteousness. When Gearson returns from the town meeting, he mocks the 'glorious war' and admits he was 'the first convert' after trying to 'sprinkle a little cold water' on the crowd. His speech reveals a man swept up by mob psychology, not conviction. The story's climax—Editha pressing her letter on him as he leaves—suggests her inability to see his transformation. Howells, a prominent realist, avoids melodrama; instead, he lets the dialogue expose the gap between abstract ideals and human cost.

The American Girl as a Type: Editorial Framing

The introduction, likely by Howells, positions the collection as a study of the 'American Girl' as a distinct cultural figure. He notes that after the Civil War, she became 'an American girl, and then a heroine,' often contrasted with European counterparts. The editor singles out E.A. Alexander's story for its 'courage to grapple a character and a temperament as uncommon as it is true,' and praises Elizabeth Jordan's 'Miss Kittie' for its 'ideals of little-girlhood concerning young-girlhood.' These comments suggest the editors valued psychological depth over plot. However, the catalog's 'Science Fiction' label contradicts this framing, as the excerpts show no interest in technology or future societies. The collection's true focus is social observation, not speculative invention.

Voice and Structure: The Excerpts' Evidence

The available text from 'Editha' demonstrates Howells's characteristic use of free indirect discourse. The narrative slips between Editha's perspective—'She had her reward'—and Gearson's sardonic outbursts. His line 'I never thought I should like to kill a man; but now, I shouldn't care' is a chilling reversal of his earlier pacifism. The story's structure relies on a single, extended scene: the night of the town meeting. This compression heightens the tension between private emotion and public performance. Other stories, like Octave Thanet's 'The Stout Miss Hopkins's Bicycle,' likely offer comic relief, but the excerpts do not include them. The collection's variety is hinted at by the table of contents, which includes titles like 'The Wizard's Touch' and 'The Bitter Cup,' suggesting a range of tones from fantasy to tragedy.

Catalog vs. Content: A Mismatch

The Project Gutenberg record classifies Different Girls as 'Science Fiction & Utopias,' yet the excerpts contain no futuristic or utopian elements. The introduction discusses the American girl in realistic terms, and 'Editha' is a war story set in the 1890s. This misclassification may stem from the collection's inclusion of stories by writers like Richard Le Gallienne, known for fantasy, but the available text does not support the label. Readers seeking speculative fiction will be disappointed; instead, the book offers realist portraits of young women navigating love, duty, and social expectations. The mismatch underscores the limitations of broad cataloging categories for mixed-author collections.

Readers approaching Different Girls should set aside the 'Science Fiction' label and instead consider it a sampler of late-nineteenth-century American realism. Howells's editorial hand is evident in the introduction's focus on national character, but the stories themselves vary widely in style and subject. The excerpts from 'Editha' offer the clearest example of the collection's literary ambitions, using irony and psychological nuance to critique patriotic fervor. For a full understanding, one must read the other nine stories, which may provide the contrast and range the editors intended.

Sometimes I think about Different Girls, how its quiet stories of ordinary lives sat under that odd “Science Fiction” label, and I smile at the catalog’s confusion. It reminds me of how we find our own truths between the lines, much like wandering through International Short Stories: English — A Reader’s Guide, where each tale feels like a hand reaching back through time.