Frontier desperadoes could pair menace with charm and literary cultivation

Evidence

Mr. Nugent is what is called “splendid company.” With a sort of breezy mountain recklessness in everything, he passes remarkably acute judgments on men and events; on women also. He has pathos, poetry, and humor, an intense love of nature, strong vanity in certain directions, an obvious desire to act and speak in character, and sustain his reputation as a desperado, a considerable acquaintance with literature, a wonderful verbal memory, opinions on every person and subject, a chivalrous respect for women in his manner, which makes it all the more amusing when he suddenly turns round upon one with some graceful raillery, a great power of fascination, and a singular love of children. — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 144

Categorization

• FICTION: A character study of a man who performs outlaw identity while moving easily through genteel drawing rooms — a ready-made template for a frontier rogue.
• XREF: connects to: Frontier hospitality to strangers coexisted with deep suspicion of them; Rough frontier living coexists with refined manners and concealed hatred. — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 260; Heavily armed strangers on the frontier could still prove genial companions — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 192 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Heavily armed strangers on the frontier could still prove genial companions #corroborates (1.00) — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 192
• Rough frontier living coexists with refined manners and concealed hatred. #exemplifies (0.95) — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 260
• The most courteous frontier companions can be notorious killers. #expands (0.90) — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 193
• Frontier hospitality to strangers coexisted with deep suspicion of them #expands (0.85)
• Both fiction and urban space operate through the making and crossing of frontiers #complicates (0.80) — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 271
• The same literary form can either contest or reinforce hegemonic narratives #complicates (0.75) — Peter Morey, Islamophobia and the Novel, 18