Talk:The Coquette

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She died in 1840, so 1856 is 16 years after her death, not 26 years!

Possible additions to section on criticism and theory:

Karen Weyler's article, "Marriage, Coverture, and the Companionare Ideal" discusses coverture, a common law practice that means that all property, equity, and assets of an unmarried woman becomes the property of her husband when she marries. Traditionally, societal norms of companionate marriage led to the systematic inequity of coverture and thus the man became the sole point of authority. Within The Coquette, Foster illustrated the abuse of coverture through Sanford when he pursues Nancy for her assets and to sustain his lifestyle and pursue Eliza. In her article, Weyler elaborates on women's legal disappearance and the subsequent legal monetary squandering by men under the disguise of affectionate marriage.

Weyler argues that the character of General Peter Sanford personifies the evils of coverture. Throughout the novel, Sanford's calculating character is deceitful, contributing to Eliza Wharton's demise. Foster makes her point at the end of the novel, when Eliza dies a humble death while Sanford is left scorned and impoverished.

In Ivy Schweitzer's atricle Foster's Coquette: Resurrecting Friendship From the Tomb of Marriage, Schweitzer argues that Foster's protagonist Eliza Wharton is breaking away from the institution of traditional Federalist marriage in pursuit of equalitarian friendship, which parallels the ideals of the Revolutionary Era. Eliza's nonnormative approach involves friendship within the female social sphere in hopes of liberation. However, Eliza's loss of her female friends due to their matrimonial responsibilities leads to her affair with Sanford, which exascerbates her depression, and she eventually dies.

Jentuser (talk) 15:51, 20 September 2012 (UTC)