Abstract
Eliza Wharton's downfall in Hannah Webster Foster's "The Coquette" is most commonly reduced to her position as a young woman without agency in the 18th century. Eliza's death is comfortable in the public eye, as it is seemingly a result of her behaviors as a coquette. This paper challenges that idea and presents evidence that Eliza's lack of a support system, lack of worldly knowledge, flighty nature, and title as a "coquette" not only infantilize her but lead to her demise.
Recommended Citation
Nix, Emily
(2021)
"Know Thyself, Own Thyself: An Analysis of Eliza Wharton’s Gradual Downfall in Hannah Webster Foster’s The Coquette,"
Locus: The Seton Hall Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 4, Article 9.
Available at:
https://scholarship.shu.edu/locus/vol4/iss1/9