Abstract

The eponymous protagonist in What Katy Did (1872) is one of the more unruly girls in nineteenth-century American children’s literature. Her unruliness reaches its peak when Katy suffers a fall, consequently losing her ability to walk. From this point she enters what I have termed the “bed-stage,” a temporary period during which the child is confined to a bed and their voice is taken seriously by adults. Many feminist scholars view this period negatively, as it represses wild girls into tame women. I argue that because it offers the child a voice, the bed-stage empowers. The bed-stage motif is a common one in nineteenth-century girls’ books; however, protagonists often need the stage to influence the imperfect adults. Katy breaks this mould by having faults; she needs to change. I will explore how Katy differs from the other protagonists, and what this means in the wider context of this genre.