Women in the early eighteenth through the nineteenth century are defined through rigid social expectations that deter them from pursuing the life that they desire. Foster illustrates this female gender-bias schema inherent in early American society, by indicating the oppression that woman faced daily. The Coquette, written by Hannah Foster, chronicles the life of Elizabeth Wharton, an independent, coy, and flirtatious woman, who stretches woman’s social boundaries. As a recently widowed woman, Elizabeth is pushed to wed a new suitable husband. She goes through the process of finding a suitor while facing the dilemma between what she truly wants and her societies expectations. In The Coquette, women have strict gender norms that bind them to
