English 4385: The Early American Novel
Dr. Patrick Erben
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READING AND DISCUSSION QUESTIONS, Hannah Webster Foster, The Coquette
1) The Coquette, the Epistolary Form, and Problems in Epistemology
a) The Epistolary Form
i. How does Foster use the epistolary genre (i.e. a novel written in letters between
characters)?
ii. What are the purpose and effects of her technique—using different characters’
perspectives to illuminate the same events?
iii. Also, what does the epistolary genre (as used in by Foster in this novel) reveal about
the difference between public reputation/appearance and “truth”/interior motivations?
iv. Think about similarities/differences between the use of letters in The Coquette and our
use of social media today.
A definition: Epistemology
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from Greek episteme, “knowledge,” and logos, “explanation”
the study of the nature of knowledge and justification; specifically the study of
o defining features
o the substantive conditions or sources
o the limits of knowledge and justification
knowledge can be either explicit or tacit
o explicit knowledge is self-conscious in that the knower is aware of the
relevant state of knowledge
o tacit knowledge is implicit, hidden from self-consciousness
Questions about The Coquette and the problem of Epistemology
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How do the characters in The Coquette gain knowledge—self-knowledge and
knowledge of other people?
o What are the sources?
o What is the transmission?
o What knowledge is explicit vs. tacit?
o What sources of deception or faulty knowledge can you identify?
o What are the consequences?
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In how far can the novel be said to be about a crisis in knowledge/epistemology?
2) The Coquette and the predicament of women in the early Republic
What is Eliza's problem, and what is her predicament?
What does she want? What can she have/not have?
Is she a coquette?
Evaluate the following statement: “The Coquette cuts two ways. It shows how women of the
new nation were prevented from attaining psychological as well as social and intellectual
equality in a patriarchal society, but it also counsels middle-class women in a democracy to give
up dreams better suited to an aristocracy.” Which way do you think the novel leans more?
What is your attitude toward the central characters, especially Eliza, Boyer, and Sanford. Do
you condemn or condone Eliza? Is Sanford a true villain, or merely a product of a bad system?
Play the blame game: Whose fault is it what happens to Eliza?
3) Eliza Wharton and Women’s Issues Today
And, to make it more current, isn't the novel discussing the same issues that we're discussing in
the political arena right now--regarding women's rights, especially contraception, reproduction,
marriage, sex, etc....? How does the novel inform our current debate and vice versa?
Isn't calling Eliza a "Coquette" the same or close to Rush Limbaugh's recent, infamous
epithet(SL-T) for 3rd year law student Sandra Fluke, who recently testified in congress in favor
of employer healthcare plans including birth control? Why, or how, then, does Hannah Webster
Foster use the term "Coquette" for Eliza Wharton? What does she ask the reader to do with a
term that was broadly applied to her and other women like her? What does the novel say about
gender equality, gender roles, mysogyny, etc.?
How far have we come, or not come along on this issue?