Resumen
Resumen de La coqueta, o la historia de Eliza Wharton
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You will love this book if you enjoy stories of courtship and choice, letters that let you read minds, and early American life. It suits anyone curious about women's independence and reputation.
De qué trata este libro
Why would a young woman, freshly released from a duty she never wanted, risk everything for a few more years of dancing and laughter? That question drives The Coquette, a novel told entirely through letters. It opens in New Haven, where Eliza Wharton tells her friend Lucy Freeman that she is glad to leave her childhood home.
Hannah Webster Foster published the book in 1797, in the early years of the American republic. Foster wrote it as a warning, but she gave her heroine wit, charm and a strong voice. You hear Eliza, her friends, a minister and a rake, each describing the same events in a different light.
En este resumen
- 1Eliza Wharton Steps Out of MourningFree
- 2Two Very Different Suitors Appear
- 3Mrs. Richman Warns Her About the Major
- 4Boyer Proposes and Eliza Asks for Time
- 5Sanford's Letters Show a Calculating Mind
- 6Friends Take Sides and Eliza Seems to Yield
- 7Hartford, a Wedding, and Boston
- 8The Arbor and the Ending of One Hope
- 9What the Story Says About Freedom and Choice
- 10Reputation, Seduction, and the Letter Form
Idea clave 1 de 10
Eliza Wharton Steps Out of Mourning
The novel begins with Eliza confessing her pleasure at leaving her childhood home. Her fiancé, the Reverend Mr. Haly, has just died after a long illness. She nursed him faithfully, yet she admits that she never truly loved him.
Now Eliza feels released from an arrangement she accepted out of obedience. In her first letter she promises herself a calm and serious life. That resolve lasts about a page. In her second letter she calls herself cheerful and thoughtless, and she feels her old wish for society returning. She is staying in New Haven with her cousin Mrs. Richman, and soon she puts away her mourning clothes and goes to a party.
There she meets a young minister named Boyer, who leads her in to dinner and walks with her in the garden. Lucy has already scolded her for coquettish airs, and Eliza promises to listen, though she thinks the word too harsh for an innocent heart.
Eliza's story begins with an honest wish to enjoy her youth, and that wish is both her charm and her risk.
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Questions about La coqueta, o la historia de Eliza Wharton
What is The Coquette about?
It follows Eliza Wharton, a lively young woman who is courted by a steady minister and a charming rake. The story is told through letters between her and her friends, showing how her choices about freedom and marriage shape her fate.
Is The Coquette based on a true story?
It is widely thought to draw on a real Connecticut scandal known to readers of the 1790s. Foster published it in 1797 and shaped the events into a novel in letters, with invented names and scenes.
What does coquette mean in the book?
A coquette is a woman who enjoys flirting and gathers admirers without committing to one. Eliza's friends use the word as a warning, and she thinks it too harsh for an innocent, cheerful heart.
Who are Boyer and Sanford?
Reverend Boyer is a sincere young minister who proposes a steady life. Major Sanford is a fashionable man with a bad reputation and hidden money troubles. Eliza must choose between them, and her friends strongly prefer Boyer.
Is The Coquette easy to read?
The book moves through letters, each with one writer's voice and sometimes several different scenes. Conversations are lively, the characters are easy to tell apart, and the letters let you follow several viewpoints at once.
Cite this edition
Foster, Hannah Webster. The Coquette, or, The History of Eliza Wharton. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-coquette-or-the-history-of-eliza-wharton.
Foster, H. W. (2026). The coquette, or, the history of Eliza Wharton. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-coquette-or-the-history-of-eliza-wharton (Original work published 1797)
Foster, Hannah Webster. The Coquette, or, The History of Eliza Wharton. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-coquette-or-the-history-of-eliza-wharton.
@book{foster2026coquette,
author = {Foster, Hannah Webster},
title = {The Coquette, or, The History of Eliza Wharton},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-coquette-or-the-history-of-eliza-wharton},
note = {First published 1797}
}
