A Study of the Rake and the Coquette as Literary Figures: Societal Perception in Hannah Webster Foster’s The Coquette
Mentor Information
Kristin Allukian (Department of English)
Description
Hannah Webster Foster in her acclaimed novel The Coquette explores the implications of gossip and assumptions made by the community that influence the future thoughts and endeavors of others. This concept is explored through analysis of advice, domesticity and marriage, and patriarchal influences. This study takes a look at these concepts in relation to the common archetypes of the rake and coquette within 19th-century literature. The research concludes and discusses that these figures are portrayed as antagonists in the period due to other people’s gossip and views and are not inherently immoral.
A Study of the Rake and the Coquette as Literary Figures: Societal Perception in Hannah Webster Foster’s The Coquette
Hannah Webster Foster in her acclaimed novel The Coquette explores the implications of gossip and assumptions made by the community that influence the future thoughts and endeavors of others. This concept is explored through analysis of advice, domesticity and marriage, and patriarchal influences. This study takes a look at these concepts in relation to the common archetypes of the rake and coquette within 19th-century literature. The research concludes and discusses that these figures are portrayed as antagonists in the period due to other people’s gossip and views and are not inherently immoral.
