Gender Stereotypes In The Coquette By Eliza Wharton

In the epistolary novel The Coquette, main character and protagonist Eliza Wharton is a promiscuous female that breaks the early American stereotype of settling down with a man as soon as she can find one. In the early stages of America, women were to find a husband in journey to become a wife and a housekeeper. Wharton did not like these gender stereotypes and believed she should have been able to “sleep-around” and flirt with men before settling down. Her sense of freedom leads readers to believe Wharton represents new America in many ways.
Eliza Wharton herself can be related to early America. Wharton is a free-spirited woman who is looking for fun, and more importantly, not being like her authorities and peers. When America first broke …show more content…
After Eliza’s fiancé dies, she is stuck in between Mr. Boyer and Major Sanford. Although this may have happened in Europe, the insight to this choice and what Eliza is thinking of both men is a new way of story telling. Wharton says, “In regard to these men, my fancy and my judgment are in scales. Sometimes one preponderates, sometimes the other. Which will finally outweigh, time alone can reveal.” She is choosing between wealthy Boyer and handsome Sanford. Eliza is not in the hunt for the most wealth, which is what most single women are looking for at this time. Wharton and her thoughts are appealing to new America; they want to read about how a promiscuous woman thinks since readers are not exposed to these concepts.
The idea of a story being created from no specific author and letter writing would be appealing to an early American. Back in Europe, a single author, or authority would write stories. America can show that nobody has to be in charge and can break the trend. In a letter, you are directly inside what the writer is thinking. (Eliza quote) This element relates to democracy and how in early America, or “land of the people,” everyone has a voice and people deserve to be