"A Cunning and Altogether Modern Master of Men": The Pursuing Woman in 1910s Feature Comedy

ABSTRACT:This article defines the pursuing woman plot in romantic comedies and traces how this narrative trope developed in American silent cinema. Though scholars characterize the women in later screwball comedies as uniquely progressive for dominating their courtships with men, this assertive heroine first flourished in the 1910s as part of a larger industry effort to craft feature-length comedies for female viewers. As the film industry increasingly relied upon romantic comedies for feature-length humor, depictions of sexually aggressive women shifted from grotesque inconveniences to modern role models. The films' reliance upon changing dating practices complicates notions of silent situation comedies' genteel humor.