The Coquette: Change Through Choice
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The eighteenth century was a patriarchal age that adhered to the conservative moral pertaining to woman of that time which The Coquette conveys through its critique of these social proprieties. This seduction novel portrays Eliza Wharton as the model woman of virtue that falls from grace because she goes against the socially acceptable behaviors mandated, but through the series of letters the reader sees that the novel is encouraging and illuminating on change for women of that era. These changes are represented through the perspectives on women and marriage as it juxtaposes the traditional social norms conveyed by Lucy and Mrs. Richman with that of true love and friendship that Eliza seeks. Eliza is a woman ahead of her time in how she practices ideals different from customary interactions with the opposite sex, which stems from her feelings against marriage showing the reader the social hierarchy of this era. It can be said in many ways, but the beginning of the novel says it best: “Eliza Wharton sins and dies. Her death can convey the conservative moral that many critics of the time demanded” (XX). With her death Foster shows that women are forced to follow these social norms otherwise consequences will arise and with each letter she breaks down these traditions to get to the meat of the matter: that change is happening for women during this time.
Eliza is extremely adamant on her views of marriage: “I recoil at the thought of immediately forming a connection, which must confine me to the duties of domestic life, and make me dependent for happiness, perhaps too, for subsistence” (29). She views marriage as a “selfish state” in which men are taking away a womans life by having them become homemakers (24). The novel opens up with Elizas husband, Reverend Haley, dying which in turn leads to numerous inquiries from her mother and friends about her marital prospects. They worry about her inheritance, and rather than encourage her to make her own wages as an independent woman (which Eliza so longs to be) they advise her to find a suitable match to do so. This perspective on women having to be wed continuously comes up whenever Eliza contemplates on her two unsatisfactory suitors: Major Sanford and Reverend Boyer, who both portray two very different views on women and marriage through their letters. Peter Sanford is “vain and selfish” but he draws Eliza in with his intellect and proposed wealth (X). He also seems to really love Eliza in his own way, unlike the calculating Boyer: “[She] has really made more impression on my heart, than I was aware of” (34). Despite his feelings he still sees Eliza as a sexual conquest which denotes his two strong views on marriage that contradict one another: it allows for him to continue on with his playboy ways and yet he refers to it as if it were a prison. Sanford explicitly shows that a mans life remains fairly unchanged after marriage while a woman must adhere to her husbands wishes. He refuses to be “[shackled] by the bonds of matrimony” and even though he is “persuaded [Eliza] would make an excellent wife” he wants to “keep out of the noose” (34, 23). Yet, Sanford ends up marrying for money, another woman that meets her downfall like Eliza only through wealth, an unfaithful husband (for he continues to have an affair with Eliza), and a still-born child. There is no winning for women when a man overpowers them, even ones that remain virtuous and steadfast. Reverend Boyer (the suitor most approved of by Elizas friends) would be a respectable and modest match especially since he desires her hand in marriage. Although he appears most suitable, Boyer seems to have a calculating way of searching for a proper and virtuous wife that best compliments him. He desires a woman that would augment himself as well as his work. He sees Eliza as this honorable woman and proceeds to woo her with “engaging and soothing” conversation that is “virtuous and refined” (66). Eliza feels that he is the one to “seduce [her] into matrimony” but she still resists because her ideals as an unmarried women still remain (66). In eighteenth century society, Boyer would be the most appropriate choice for marriage not only because he is a modest and refined clergyman but because he is within her social class. As Lucy once explained: “His situation in life is, perhaps, as elevated as you have a right to claim” (27). But what Eliza comes to realize is that for her to marry a man she must also marry his occupation and in turn finds misery in the thought of marrying Boyer because it would confine her to be refined and modest at all times (XVI). This morality of women is what Eliza most struggles against; she views marriage as something that would bond her to these restrictions. Eliza is seeking real love and companionship, something she sees in her friends Mr. and Mrs. Richman and recognizes that both of her suitors can never live up to her wants and expectations.). She could choose neither and remain alone, but even though she wishes for independence she is still not strong enough to live life alone. There lies her downfall as well as a choice that many eighteenth century women must make: settle and conform or become a spinster. This illustrates the shift towards women choice when it comes to marriage in the late eighteenth century, no longer is it something that is forced upon a woman but rather something she can decide on. The Coquette illustrates this struggle for choice, but heavily emphasizes the consequences related to such a choice. Mrs. Richman depicts the perfect persona for being a mother and wife as she tells Eliza: “All my happiness is centered within the limits of my own walls; and I grudge every moment that calls me from the pleasing scenes of domestic life” (97). She, as well as Lucy, take on another