23 English eng Waterman, Bryan Contributor <p>This article analyzes the letters of <span data-start="176" data-end="197" style="">Elizabeth Whitman</span> to examine how courtship, flirtation (coquetry), and epistolary communication shaped women's social lives in <span data-start="307" data-end="340" style="">Revolutionary-era Connecticut</span>. It argues that Whitman's correspondence reveals the complex ways women negotiated gender expectations, emotional expression, reputation, and personal agency during the American Revolution. By treating letters as both personal and literary documents, the article demonstrates how private correspondence reflected broader cultural and social changes in the emerging United States, particularly regarding women's roles, relationships, and identity.<br></p> University of North Carolina Press 2011 pdf ISSN 0012-8163 American Literature Coquetry and Correspondence in Revolutionary-Era Connecticut: Reading Elizabeth Whitman's Letters mixed material University of North Carolina Press