The Coquette

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The Coquette or, The History of Eliza Wharton is an epistolary novel by Mrs Hannah Webster Foster. It was published anonymously in 1797, and was not published under the author's real name until 1866, 26 years after Webster's death. It was one of the best-selling novels of its time and was reprinted eight times between 1824 and 1828. The novel is a fictionalized account of the story of Elizabeth Whitman, the daughter of a clergyman who died after giving birth to a stillborn, illegitimate child at a roadside tavern. Writers and preachers of the day blamed her demise on the fact that she read romance novels, which gave her improper ideas and turned her into a coquette. Foster responded with The Coquette, which provided a more sympathetic portrayal of Whitman and described the difficulties faced by middle-class women.

[edit] Plot summary

The story is about Eliza Wharton, the daughter of a clergyman. At the beginning of the novel she has just been released from an unwanted marriage by the death of her betrothed, also a clergyman, whom Eliza nursed during his final days in her own home. After this experience, she decides she wants friendship and independence. After a short period of time living with friends, she is courted by two men. One, Boyer, is a respected but rather boring clergyman, whom all of her friends recommend she accept in marriage. The other, Sanford, is an aristocratic libertine, who has no intention to marry but neither to let another man have her. Because of her indecision and her apparent preference for the libertine Sanford, Boyer eventually gives up on her, deciding that she is not a fit wife for him. Sanford also disappears from her life and marries another woman. She eventually decides that she really loved Boyer and wants him back. But it is too late because Boyer has already decided to marry someone else, and doesn't want her back in the first place. Sanford later reappears married, but is able to seduce the depressed Eliza. Overcome by guilt and unwilling to face her family and friends, Eliza arranges to escape from her home. Like the real-life Elizabeth Whitman, she dies due to childbirth complications and is buried by strangers.

[edit] Criticism

The Coquette received a revival of critical attention during the late twentieth century. It is often praised for its intelligent portrayal of the contrast between individualism vs. social conformity and passion vs. reason. It has also been studied for its relationship to political ideologies of the early American republic and its portrayal of the emerging middle class.