The series is the supposedly autobiographical account of Lucy Brewer, although controversy has surrounded the true authorship of the story as some believe it was in fact written by Nathaniel Hill Wright.

Reluctant to return home to her parents or stay in the brothel, Lucy escapes by joining the Marine Corps to patriotically fight in the War of 1812.

Lucy confesses that her reason for writing this story and revealing her double life stems from her desire to dissuade young girls from listening to the “voice of love, unless sanctioned by paternal approbation, and to resist the impulse of inclination, when it runs counter to the precepts of religion and virtue” (76).

This leads into Lucy's digression where she tells a story of a young man who was deceived by a prostitute and fell ill to disease, warning the reader to not engage in these areas of the city.

Third Part: An Awful Beacon Lucy once again returns to her parents' farm where she wishes to live the remainder of her life as a woman in the countryside.

For a character like Lucy Brewer, both this role and identity are altered especially with the gender-based conceptions of “virtue” (in terms of female chastity) and “male” valor.

This instantly grants her liberty to act in a more authoritative light, to be more outspoken, to experience the world, and to help others who are oppressed (Example: woman in the carriage ride).

Urban Vice: Disorder among Boston's social classes became a legitimate concern with the growing city following the Revolutionary War.

Whether it is monetary compensation or the positive reaction from the reader, the Female Warrior is easily comprehended as a symbol of strength and defiance.

Romance Novel: The Female Marine is marked as a romance novel specifically due to these aspects of its storyline: “seduction by a dastardly villain; flight through storms; temporary sanctuary with a kindly protectress; ensnarement by a wretched deceiver; a pitiful death of an unwanted child; sermons and lectures on moral fibre; and years of depravity and disillusionment as a fallen woman” as stated by Alexander Mendicott.

Lucy restores normalcy to her life by marrying Mr. West, as the United States enters the Era of Good Feelings, a period referred to as a “political covenant”[1] (Cohen 30).

It is this linear stage of progression for both the country and Lucy Brewer that strengthens the foundations for further establishing identity and position within the hierarchy of both gender roles and social classes.

Cohen writes: "At the time of the first appearance of The Female Marine, Nathaniel Hill Wright was in his late twenties, a family man with a wife and at least one small child, evidently struggling to make ends meet.

While none of this proves that Wright was the author of the female-marine narratives, his political affiliation, sexual history [his wife bore a child sixth months after their marriage], literary predilections, self-characterization, and personal circumstances – along with the newspaper reference identifying "Mr. Wright" as Coverly's hack – all tend to make him a very plausible candidate.

"[2] Nathaniel Coverly was the son of a printer who made a scarce living in Boston by printing cheap pamphlets and broadsides to appeal to the general public.

In 1815, Coverly released a pamphlet entitled “The Affecting Narrative of Louisa Baker”, allegedly written by a fake author Luther Wales and printed in New York.

There is much discrepancy over the true authorship of The Female Marine, and although it is possible Coverly himself wrote the three pamphlets, it is more likely they were developed by a hack author in his employ.

An unidentified newspaper reference (found in the collections of the American Antiquarian Society) at the time suggests that Coverly “kept a poet, or ready writer, who manufactured for him all prose and verse articles which were called for by the occasions of the time.” This author, Mr. Nathaniel Hill Wright, was described as “a comical genius, who could do the grave or the gay, as necessity demanded, and with equal facility.” Such qualifications make a versatile genius like Wright the ideal author for the playful and eclectic story of the Female Marine.

Wright wrote and produced several volumes of verse under his own name in the early 19th century, but like Coverly, struggled to stay afloat while taking care of his wife and small child, especially during the war.

After a battle with the British warship Guirriere, the public affectionately dubbed the Constitution, “Old Ironsides”, firmly establishing her popularity in the eyes of the people.

This was due in part to the subject matter of his writing, which was often too vulgar for the upper classes, but his broadsides and pamphlets were very modestly priced, and were thus affordable to all but the most impoverished people.

Coverly sought the same audience with the publication of The Female Marine, although he particularly targeted the juveniles, noting in the third part of the series that it was “worthy the perusal of young persons of both sexes, and of all classes.” Due to the popularity of the three part series, Coverly produced additional spinoffs, one allegedly written by Rachel Sperry, the madam of the brothel in which Baker claims to have been entrapped.

When Lucy's pamphlets circulated, people were not overly shocked or appalled by her actions, but rather intrigued that woman was able to conquer the male role.