SOURCE: “Women's Coming of Age in Fantasy,” in Extrapolation: A Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy, Vol. 28, No. 1, Spring, 1987, pp. 10-22.

In the following essay, Attebery discusses Ingelow's fantasy novel Mopsa the Fairy and its emphasis on the coming-of-age of its title character as a forerunner to the rite of passage novels by modern fantasy writers such as Ursula Le Guin and Patricia Wrightson.

An orphaned young man discovers a destiny, true love, and his identity. A wizard tests his powers and learns his own limits. An amiable young hobbit grows into a heroic and somber figure. A youth wakes up in a room transformed into woodland and undergoes a series of tests and adventures that lead him to self-knowledge. One of the most prevalent patterning motifs in fantasy literature is coming of age. From the earliest traditional fairy tales to the most recent fantasy novels, protagonists have...