Toliver's Secret

One of the reasons Ellen cannot make the journey to Mr. Shannon’s tavern while presenting as a girl is because of the gender roles typical in 18th-century England and its colonies. This era had stringent, binary gender roles about what type of clothes and behavior were acceptable for “girls” and “boys.” Eighteenth-century medicine and science, as well as “classical thought and Christian ideology” all upheld the belief that “men and women possess naturally distinct physical, mental, and social characteristics” (“Gender in the Proceedings.” The Proceedings of the Old Bailey). Women and girls, like Ellen and Mother, “were expected to be chaste, modest, compassionate, and pious” (“Gender in the Proceedings”). They were largely relegated to the private sphere of the household and oversaw domestic duties. Ellen’s father “wanted Ellen to be ladylike” (11). While Grandfather subverts his contemporary society’s gendered expectation by wanting Ellen to “stand up for [her]self” (10) like he did when he was a boy, Mother upholds them by saying that Ellen “can’t roister about like a boy” (10). Ultimately, Ellen’s bravery and fortitude during her journey subtly critiques the traditional gender roles of the period and emphasizes the capability of girls and women in the American Revolution.

To seem acceptable in the public sphere outside the household during her mission, Ellen must disguise herself so that people perceive her as a boy. Though Mother also volunteers to “dress up as a man” and carry the message (37), Grandfather thinks it would be impossible to disguise a grown woman as a man. As a child, Ellen can more convincingly disguise her gender. Grandfather says that if Mother went and got caught in her disguise, she would “never be seen again” (37), implying that she would receive harsh punishments—either for spying, cross-dressing, or both, though official laws against dressing in the clothing assigned “opposite” of one’s perceived gender would not be formally and widely outlawed until roughly a century later.

In addition to behavioral expectations, traditional 18th-century gender roles also had clothing expectations. Ellen wears her brother Ezra’s old clothes: a red knitted shirt, a blue wool jacket, great stockings, and “breeches” (49). Breeches are a type of knee-length trousers. Ellen notes that they allow her new freedom of movement to “kick her legs as high as she could” (49). She lists everything she can do in breeches that she can’t in traditional “girls” clothes, petticoats: dodge horses and wheelbarrows, climb onto a boat, and even just walk across town. Dressed as a girl, Ellen says, “I wish I could be invisible” on the streets of New York (27). By contrast, being dressed as a boy “was just like being invisible” (56). Since boys were meant to venture beyond the domestic sphere and were not subject to the same attention and criticisms about decorum as young girls, Ellen finds confidence in her disguise.

Throughout her journey, Ellen internalizes this freedom and retains it even after discarding her disguise. She and Mrs. Shannon laugh about “the things we do to fool those redcoats” and “get important messages through the lines to our army” (155). Ellen proves her own capabilities to herself by taking on the challenge of delivering the message, and by meeting others who are facing the same challenges she is. When she gets back to New York, she “felt different” when she saw the bustling crowds. She realizes that they “were all going about their affairs—just as she was” (161). Transgressing traditional 18th-century gender roles has given Ellen courage and allowed her to see the fundamental similarities and abilities shared by all people, regardless of gender.