Compares and contrasts Isabella Valancy Crawford's "Malcolm's Katie" with Archibald Lampman's "The Story of an Affinity." Superficially, it appears that Lampman's story is more progressive, in terms of contemporary sexual mores, than is Crawford's poem. In "Malcolm's Katie," the heroine is typically small and timid; Katie's stature (and her actions) are manifestations of romance convention and a reflection of social reality. Lampman's story, perhaps a response to Crawford's poem, envisages women on a socially and morally equal footing with men, which is reflected physically in the stature of Lampman's women. However, there is some suggestion that Crawford's poem is more radically, albeit subtly, subversive.
