Sophia Johnson

Sophia Johnson

Sophia Johnson dressed as a man in order to escape from her stepmother’s house unobserved and reunite with her brother, a process which entailed serving by his side in the War of 1812. Johnson, who published and printed this narrative, presumably chose the accompanying portrait. The portrait depicts a woman in a formal dress noticeably missing an arm, a hint at her past as a soldier. Johnson was telling her own story, and in her portrait she presents her reader with a layered and complex idea of what constitutes a woman. The message embedded in the portrait is that ladylike femininity and the ability to withstand great physical hardship are not mutually exclusive.

The subtitle, located beneath the portrait, reads: “Whose Afflictions and singular Adventures exceed those of any other American Female living, who has been doomed in early life to drink deep of the cup of sorrow.” The implication is that the unique nature of Johnson’s story (“exceed those of any other American Female living”) merits its publication. The title is evidence that Johnson considered her story extraordinary, and from the portrait we see that she literally sold herself as an extraordinary body.