The Coquette (1797) is a novel by American author Hannah Webster
Foster. Published anonymously, The Coquette was one of
eighteenth-century America's bestselling books. Based on the story of
Elizabeth Whitman, a New England socialite whose death during the birth
of her illegitimate child was a sensational topic in newspapers at the
time, Foster's novel attempts to turn tragedy and gossip into a topic of
serious moral and social discussion. The Coquette both empathizes with
its main character and promotes the need for educating women, making it
a groundbreaking work of early feminism and an important example of the
epistolary form, a popular style of eighteenth century fiction which
uses letters between characters as narration.
Having been released from an unhappy marriage by the death of her
husband, Eliza Wharton--the daughter of a prominent clergyman--finds
herself hoping for more from life. As she begins to envision the
independent life she desires, two competing suitors threaten to disrupt
her plans before she can even realize them. Rev. J. Boyer is a kind but
unappealing man who fails to inspire a sense of romance in Eliza, while
Major Peter Sanford, a known womanizer, is an exciting and unpredictable
man who manages to pique Eliza's interest before marrying another woman.
As she loses sight of her newfound sense of independence, Eliza becomes
a mere object of male affection, a woman to be seduced, but not
respected. When an affair with Sanford goes terribly wrong, and finding
herself with nowhere to turn, Eliza's life slowly falls to pieces before
our eyes. The Coquette is a tragic novel with a complex message. While
it critiques Eliza's moral failures, it also deconstructs society's
attempts to blame women for the ways in which men manipulate and abandon
them. The solution, according to Hannah Webster Foster, must be to
educate women so that they will not only be given the tools for
independence, but the ability to succeed either without men or as their
rational equals.
With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript,
this edition of Hannah Webster Foster's The Coquette is a classic of
American literature reimagined for modern readers.
