Women who lose elections at many levels often have a rougher landing than men, according to Adrienne Kimmell, who has overseen research into women and politics as executive director of the Barbara Lee Family Foundation. “The old boys’ club in my opinion gets you in, and once you’re out, it lifts you up,” she said.

There isn’t a clear analogue in pop culture, either, for what a powerful woman who lost out on a powerful job should do. Selina Meyer, the nakedly power-seeking politician in “Veep” — seen by some viewers, mistakenly, as a stand-in for Hillary Clinton, according to executive producer David Mandel — does become president but loses in the next election. The most recent season shows her accepting a thinly veiled bribe to try to establish her post-presidential library and emerging determined to run again. Mr. Mandel milked that scenario for humor, but in real life, he can’t find anything funny about Mrs. Clinton’s situation. “I voted for her, I gave money to her, I think it’s time for her to move on,” he said. “I want some room on the stage.”

Yet Hillary Clinton, as ever, doesn’t fit neatly into any category. She has money and plenty of exposure and the determination to be heard and make a difference. The question is how and where.

In whatever role she carves out for herself, she will have to contend with the vitriol she has drawn throughout her public life. She and Donald Trump went into Election Day with historically low favorability ratings, a distinction they have both maintained after the election. In fact, a Gallup poll conducted this June noted that Mrs. Clinton was the first defeated presidential candidate since 1992 whose favorability ratings had not risen by the June after the election (with the exception of John Kerry, for whom Gallup did not have comparable data). Her highest ratings in multiple polls came after her husband was impeached in 1998 and while she was secretary of state. In a review of 10 polls conducted after the election through this summer, in every case a majority of respondents held an unfavorable view of Mrs. Clinton.

Loathed as she may be in some quarters, many Americans do seem to have understood, and to some extent accepted, that Mrs. Clinton is not going to be on an endless hike in the Chappaqua woods.