Which conventions of sensation fiction does Alcott deploy? Why does she challenge the genre’s tendency to punish transgressive female characters?

Contrast Jean and Lucia as foils. How does the novella use their rivalry to critique the limitations of conventional, socially sanctioned femininity?

Consider masking and unmasking in the novella. Which characters wear masks, and how do these instances of disguises or veneer further the novella’s thematic concerns?

Compare how Gerald’s and Edward’s personalities transform during the course of events. To what extent are these changes genuine character development?

Examine class in the novella. How does Alcott both reify and undercut Victorian anxieties about social hierarchy?

The motif of theatricality bookends the novella, as Gerald’s initial comment on “[s]cene first” sets up Jean’s final line, “Is not the last scene better than the first?” (139). How does Alcott use the language and structure of a play to frame Jean’s deception?

Discuss the function of letters in the novella as both instruments of Jean’s manipulative performances and the source of irrefutable truth about her.

The Coventry family’s oldest generation, embodied by Sir John Coventry and Mrs. Coventry, eschews their parental and avuncular duties. What does the novella imply about parents and children?