Scarlet Letter and The Coquette The Evolving Feminine of the 19th Century
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In these two novels, The Coquette and The Scarlet Letter, respective authors Hannah Foster and Nathaniel Hawthorne choose to vocalize many of the looming questions about the feminine role in an historically religious and masculine society. The heroines Eliza Wharton and Hester Prynne serve to address these questions, specifically the acceptability and functionality of an unmarried woman, and likewise the terms on which to accept an unwed mother. Additionally Cathy Davidson, in the introduction to The Coquette, points to several other controversial issues: "female education, female employment, political and legal rights of women, and the double sex standard" (Foster p. ix) the last of these making the strongest appearance in both novels. In lieu of the differences with which the authors choose to approach these questions, it is undoubtedly within the subtext of both works that the role of the female is rapidly evolving from a once pacified, submissive, and quiet existence, to one which, in its youth begins to challenge boundaries, and in persistence will reengineer the clockwork of society.
Through the letters of her heroine Eliza, Foster creates a creatively insightful voice into the feminine psyche of the late 18th century. Eliza is a rebel of sorts, fighting the current that would lead her to an undesirable marriage, to "the noose" (Foster p. 23) which Sanford is so apt to refer to, or to the "duties of domestic life" (Foster p. 29) in Eliza's own words, that she fears would cut her off from friends and leave her no time for the 'pleasantries' of which she is so fond. For her lack of decision, coquettish nature in the eyes of her suitors, Eliza pays heavily...