Young Women In The Coquette By Eliza Wharton

The most interesting work that stood out to me in American Literature was by Hannah Webster Foster “The Coquette”. This was the best worked, studied because it is an excellent example of women’s literature written during a period of American History. The Coquette shows how women in the 18th century made a change on whom society define the role of a woman. The words of Lucy “to see a woman depart so far from the female character, as to assume the masculine habit and attitudes; and appear entirely indifferent, even to the externals of modesty, is truly disgusting, and ought not to be countenanced by our attendance, much less by our approbation” (Webster 907). Lucy views on women deviating from traditional gender norms are just as harsh as those of utter by men. “The Coquette” was a novel that was based on Elizabeth Whitman played through Eliza Wharton as a young, beautiful, smart, and prone to flirtatiousness. She was soon freed from an engagement to a man she did not love and then later died of an illness.

   In her article, "The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860," Barbara Welter discusses the nineteenth-century ideal of the perfect woman. She asserts that "the attributes of True Womanhood . . . could be divided into four cardinal virtues-piety, purity, submissiveness and domesticity." Furthermore, she adds that "if anyone, male or female, dared to tamper with the complex virtues which made up True Womanhood, he was damned immediately as an enemy of God, of civilization and of the Republic" (Welter 152). In Hannah W. Foster's The Coquette, the characters Major Sanford and Eliza Wharton violate True Womanhood condemning them both to wretched fates.

“The Coquette” by a Lady of Massachusetts, also commonly known as Hannah Foster, offers a very compelling depiction of women who were learning how to navigate the struggles of late 18th century society. Despite society norms and expectations that were weighed on women, the female characters within this novel grapple with questions of power, and constraint. Through the interactions of Eliza Wharton, Mrs. Richman and Lucy Freeman, readers are able to witness how powerful these women were in the face of their struggles. While societal norms of the late 18th century often depicted women as powerless and confined them to domestic roles, “Coquette” deeply challenges these conventions by portraying women in a powerful light. Eliza Wharton was a very

Hannah Webster Foster’s The Coquette (1797) and William Hill Brown’s The Power of Sympathy (1789) are epistolary novels that outline the inevitable perils and consequences (for women) of carelessly becoming a victim of male seduction. These provocative novels allow readers to enter a sexual private sphere of society, one that may have been deemed taboo, through letters depicting the art of seduction. Women were expected to subscribe to the societal expectations of appropriate female behavior. In addition, literacy was at transformative state at the staging of both novels; morals lessons (within the household) could now be found in non-biblical mediums of literature. The divergence from reading for devotion to reading for entertainment and intellect was pivotal. The perceived dangers of this, however, were that “novels which expose no particular Vice, and which recommend no particular Virtue, to the fair Reader, though she may find amusement, must finish them without being impressed with any particular idea" (Brown, 7). Brown implies that, by misinterpreting seduction novels, women would not be able to perform their political and social role as republican mothers—that these novels would penetrate their moral compass and leave them vulnerable to the powers of seduction. The seduction that befall women in Brown’s The Power of Sympathy and Foster’s The Coquette reinforce the expected role of women in the New Republic, highlight the horrifying consequences that accompany

In the works of Hannah Webster Foster’s “The Coquette”, there are characters who present themselves as morally ambiguous. During the time of the late eighteenth century, Feministic actions and attitude were not the social norm, and was almost looked down upon. Most men were still seen as superior to women, just because of their sex. Although now that is known to be false, Women were deemed to be subservient to the man. The role women were supposed to play during this time was the “housewife”. Free time for women was not supposed to be spent socializing but doing other things related to the maintenance of the family, from sewing socks to laundry.

The epistolary style of The Coquette allows the reader to see both sides of the story and see things that might not otherwise be apparent. For instance, in The Coquette, we are following the flirtatious excursions of Eliza and occasionally we get an insight into what General Sanford’s views. The trickery of Sanford is hidden until we read his letter to Mr. Deighton where he states, “but I fancy this young lady is a coquette; and if so, I shall avenge my sex by retaliating the mischiefs she mediates against us.” (Coquette, location 407) The theme of correspondence becomes apparent from this point because it shows the reader that women can be naïve to the intentions of others. This plays out throughout the novel in many ways through the actions of Eliza and the reactions of Boyer and Sanford. Eliza spends much of her time writing to friends, attempting to persuade them that she is not a coquette. This is where the theme of sexual freedom and liberation comes into play.

Boyer is condescending and demonstrates her idea of an “excellent partner” (27). Lucy, like most women at the time, found marriage to be a way of securing a socially and financially affluent future; her description of Mr. Boyer, whose “taste,” “manners” and “morals,” are highly regarded, supports the materialism of the time period. Baker finds that “The Coquette is considered a tragic novel in that it depicts the seduction and fall of a young woman, and the reader can track the tragic disintegration of Eliza Wharton against her flagging commitment to precision and clarity in her language, her mode of self-expression;” however, it seems that Eliza possesses the intelligence, as well as the sophistication to understand. Foster's emphasis on the value of language alerts the reader to another movement in the novel, one that the reader might celebrate: the voice of her society is awakened to its compromised public voice regarding virtue, honor, and friendship. Eliza's queries on language throughout the novel are ultimately shifted to her female circle, whose members recognize the need for their language to reflect more clearly the reality of their world”

In The House of Mirth, a book often described as a book of manners, Edith Wharton describes the plight of Lily Bart, an unmarried woman at the end of the Victorian era. It can be appreciated how Wharton, a member of the time period’s elite circles herself, wrote the novel using her own experiences and ideas regarding the elite’s activities, giving The House of Mirth an unparalleled sense of authenticity. Throughout the novel, it becomes clear that Lily’s troubles can be sourced back to a combination of her upbringing as well as the expectations of the different gender roles and social politeness of the time period. A woman of great physical beauty, Lily was ardently raised by her mother to take advantage of her beautiful appearance to gain

On the surface of a supposed age of innocence lies an age of patriarchal control. Women of the 19th century Victorian society were jailed into a world where limiting gender roles were imperative to basic societal structure. In a patriarchal society, women had to meet the requests and rules that were determined by men. This oppression was an injustice to women, as their freedom was stripped from their rights and their conduct had to mimick a perfect, rule abiding, male dependent individual. Women had a role to play, a role that author Edith Wharton believed had to be depicted in a 1920’s novel—through the characters of two contrasting woman. Playing the role of bad girl and good girl, Ellen and May illuminate the restricted roles forced upon women in Wharton's The Age of Innocence.

At the time of its publication in October of 1847, the author of Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte, duped the public and concealed her identity of a striving female novelist by introducing her works under the masculine pseudonym of Currer Bell. Indeed, women writing during the XIXth century were viewed as highly subversive, they would that way be voluntarily breaking out of the prefabricated situation contrived for their gender and trespassing on forbidden territory. A territory in which only men were thought capable of tackling activities such as literature or sciences which required talent and ingenuity. When women like Amantine Dupin or Charlotte Bronte dared to traverse these deep rooted boundaries, when their camouflage as George Sand and Currer Bell were respectively unveiled, and when it became indisputable that women were much more adept than they were previously thought to be, the audience researched the masculine aspect within their writing, the male savior, whether he be a lover, a friend, or a brother; quite an understandable inquiry when taking consideration of the era pending at the time in which gender roles were sharply defined and in which melodramatic novels were still very much of actuality such as The Brute by Anton Chekhov or Tender Offer by Louisa May Alcott. Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte, nonetheless, did not provide such a character in her novels

At the time of 19th century England, the societal norms of women were very different from today. It is against the norm for women to get an education and to have a job outside of the house. Bronte allows the reader to follow the journey of Jane Eyre’s struggle of getting a good education and finding a job. As Brontë introduces Jane, the reader learns that she will be attending school of Lowood soon, as a way for her stepmother to get rid of her. Young Jane is thrilled at the idea of going to school and sets her hopes high.

Living in a world of hypocrisy is not a foreign concept in today’s society. Likewise, even writings from the 1700s are filled to the brim with themes that are still relevant to the world today. Hannah Webster Foster’s epistolary writing, The Coquette, carries themes of marriage, freedom, and virtue, all of which are hypocritical ideas of the 21st century. Each of these themes has a centered focus around women, and the stereotypical role they are expected to play.

An obscure orphan governess, perceived to be too young, too penniless, too insignificant to control her own life, defied societal conventions of her time, and remains relevant to this day. Why does this poor, plain governess with no financial prospects or social standing matter in a modern feminist perspective? If she could speak, a modern feminist’s beliefs would likely shock her, so to interpret this novel as feminist, one must see it through the lens of the time and place Brontë wrote it. Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre was a feminist work in that Bronte expressed disdain for oppressive gender structures through the voice of Jane Eyre, and the actions of Bertha Mason.

Charlotte Brontё’s novel Jane Eyre is a powerful example of believing in what you want despite the award of others. With Jane giving a first hand view of what it’s like to be a woman lacking rights and being put under oppression we are shown how she stands out to making a change for herself. From the start of her childhood through adulthood, we see her struggles of being a woman in the 1800’s. The lack of support for having her own opinion and being a strong-willed woman is astounding and profound. Though it was made so long ago, the same problems are faced today. We saw the beginning of feminism. An equal of the sexes rose and fell based upon misconception and some disagreement upon the matter of feminism. Feminism was meant to last for good, but it became a false sense of security for those expectant of equality.

Of lesser impact, the author also discusses another figure, Eliza Lucas Pinckney who was accomplished to study freely and helped her father grow her business. She was reminded of her “place” as a female, Solomon indicates. Later she was engaged in a speech in which she accepted her husband superiority and recognized