Self-Reliance in The Coquette
Hannah W. Foster's The Coquette, written in 1797, takes place in a time period and social arena where a woman's primary role consisted of finding a suitable husband and becoming contently married. Forced into a narrow confine of her role from her early childhood, a girl became caught in a world where she lacked any true power. Controlled by her society, it was difficult for a female to find her own voice and thoughts, without even displaying that self to the world. A woman rarely remained true to herself. Yet, The Coquette's main character, Eliza Wharton, lives the life of a young woman struggling to be self-reliant within the constraints created by her society. In this context, the word "self-reliant" refers to its definition in Ralph Waldo Emerson's philosophical essay entitled "Self-Reliance." In his essay, Emerson defines self-reliance as the ability "To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart, is true for all men (Emerson! 23)..." In general, self-reliance refers to the ability to remain true to oneself. Specifically, Eliza accomplishes self-reliance by not immediately accepting Reverend Boyer's marriage proposal, as all of her peers believe
Eliza knows her own nature and attempts to stay consistent with it. She says quite bluntly to her mother when writing about potentially marrying Reverend Boyer, "My disposition is not calculated for that sphere (Foster 39)." While her friends and family impart upon her to marry him regardless because tradition dictates it, Eliza knows she would be unhappy. Her very nature rejects the idea. No one should feel the need to deny one's true self in order to mold to the ideals of one's society. Emerson maintains in his "Self-Reliance" essay that "The populace think that your rejection of popular standards is a rejection of all standard (38)..." If this is true for men it remains true even more so for women. The desire and even necessity of being self-reliant cannot be solely limited to men. Reverend Boyer, however, is the paragon of what Eliza's society deems acceptable. As a religious man adamantly practicing strong morals, he loves Eliza deeply. He attempts to receive her in marriage even though she refuses several times. Once he realizes Eliza may never accept him as a husband, he destroys all connections to her. Later, he contently marries Maria Selby. Eliza's most intimate friend, Lucy Freeman, seems to live righteously as well. As a result, she gladly becomes Mrs. Lucy Sumner. The Mr. and Mrs. Richman, who are probably the most passionate couple in the book, also maintain a successful marriage. is proper. This means not entering or conforming to a community where she knows she does not belong. Moreover, Eliza diligently remains consistent with her ideas throughout the course of the novel. She even openly rebels against the fact that men in her community enjoy far more social freedom than the women. In spite of this fact, even the male characters in The Coquette were punished for leading improper lifestyles. Although all of these people are rewarded by society for accepting its standards, other characters are punished. Throughout The Coquette, Major Sanford lives his life in a sexually corrupt and depraved manner. After years of shaming young debutants, he finally married a sweet girl from a wealthy family. Sanford loved Eliza, but he only married Nancy to obtain part of her family's affluence. After the who
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Approximate Word count = 1518
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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