50 pages • 1 hour read
Charlotte LennoxThe Female Quixote
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1752A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Authorial Context: Charlotte Lennox
Charlotte Lennox was born in 1730 in Gibraltar, a British territory in Southern Spain, to a Scottish military officer and his English wife. Her childhood was marked by both the transient nature of military life and the rigid social expectations of her time. Little is known about her early years, but her family moved frequently due to her father’s military postings. This lifestyle exposed her to a diverse array of cultures and experiences, fostering in her a curiosity about the world beyond her immediate surroundings.
At the age of 15, Lennox moved to London, where she embarked on a literary career that eventually led her to the forefront of the 18th-century literary scene. Despite lacking formal education, her talent and voracious appetite for reading set her apart from her peers. She soon caught the attention of Samuel Richardson, the author of Pamela and Clarissa, who recognized her potential and mentored her. Under Richardson’s mentorship, Lennox honed her craft, developing her unique voice and narrative style.
In 1751, Lennox published her first novel, The Life of Harriot Stuart. The novel garnered critical acclaim for its compelling characters and intricate plot, establishing Lennox as a rising star in the world of letters. Her second novel, The Female Quixote, established her as one of the foremost writers of her generation. Lennox’s decision to center her novel around a female protagonist navigating the pitfalls of a male-dominated society was groundbreaking for its time. In an era when women were expected to be demure and submissive, Arabella’s boldness and agency challenged conventional notions of femininity, paving the way for future generations of female writers to explore themes of identity, autonomy, and empowerment.
The Female Quixote was met with both critical acclaim and commercial success upon its publication, earning Lennox widespread recognition as a literary innovator. Critics praised the novel’s sharp wit and incisive social commentary. However, the novel also sparked controversy among some readers, who viewed its portrayal of Arabella’s delusions as a thinly veiled critique of the literature it sought to emulate. Since its publication, debate has raged as to whether Lennox or her fellow writer, Samuel Johnson, wrote the final chapter of the novel. The style of prose shifts from earlier parts of the book and is more in line with Johnson’s style. Additionally, typesetting issues in the original manuscript could suggest a different author. Though these claims endure, Lennox is given credit for most (if not all) of The Female Quixote, and the book cemented her reputation as a trailblazer. In the years that followed its publication, Lennox wrote prolifically, producing a diverse body of work that ranged from novels and plays to essays and translations.
Literary Context: Don Quixote and the Novel
The Female Quixote, as the title suggests, is written in response to Don Quixote, written by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes. First published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, respectively, Don Quixote follows the adventures of a nobleman named Alonso Quixano who, after becoming captivated by stories of chivalry and romance, christens himself as a knight-errant named Don Quixote. Accompanied by his loyal squire, Sancho Panza, Don Quixote embarks on a series of misadventures that ultimately lead him to confront the harsh realities of the world around him. Arabella shares Don Quixote’s delusional love of literature, imagining herself to be a similarly romantic figure by turning her life into a novel.
Cervantes’s work is considered one of the first novels ever written. He eschews the traditional epic format in favor of a more intimate and introspective approach, employing literary devices such as metafiction, intertextuality, and unreliable narration to create a richly layered and complex narrative. Through the character of Don Quixote, Cervantes explores themes such as the nature of reality, the power of imagination, and the search for meaning in a seemingly indifferent world. Don Quixote also revolutionized the way readers engage with literature by blurring the line between fiction and reality. By incorporating elements of parody and satire, Cervantes invites readers to question the validity of the stories they consume, challenging them to think critically about the narratives that shape their understanding of the world.
The publication of Don Quixote marked a turning point in the history of the novel, ushering in a new era of literary experimentation and innovation. Prior to Don Quixote, the novel was largely seen as a frivolous and lowbrow form of entertainment, relegated to the margins of literary respectability. However, Don Quixote elevated the novel to the status of high art, demonstrating its capacity for intellectual depth and cultural significance. In the centuries that followed its publication, Don Quixote inspired writers to explore new possibilities within the novel form. From the picaresque adventures of Henry Fielding’s Tom Jones to the psychological realism of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, the influence of Cervantes’s novel can be seen in countless works of literature across genres and traditions.
The Female Quixote is one of the clearest and most direct examples of literary inspiration, reimagining the character of Don Quixote as a sheltered English lady who has been brought up on a diet of romantic novels. Arabella shares Don Quixote’s passion for the romantic and his capacity to reshape the world around him according to the rules and laws that he believes govern the world.
Genre Context: Romantic Novels
A key part of The Female Quixote is Arabella’s love of French romantic novels. She reads them voraciously, to the point that she believes they accurately reflect the world around her. Characterized by their emphasis on intrigue, passion, and adventure, French romance novels enjoyed widespread popularity among readers from all walks of life. They offered an escape from the constraints of everyday reality into a world of fantasy and romance, as evidenced by Arabella’s near-unshakeable delusion.
At the heart of the French romance novel is the notion of amour courtois, or courtly love, which had its roots in medieval literature but experienced a revival during the 18th century. Inspired by the troubadour tradition of southern France, romance novels celebrated the ideals of chivalry, honor, and romantic devotion, presenting readers with a vision of love that transcended the boundaries of social convention and class hierarchy.
One of the most famous French romance writers was Madame de La Fayette, whose masterpiece, La Princesse de Cleves (The Princess of Cleves), is regarded as a seminal work in the genre. Published anonymously in 1678, the novel tells the story of a young noblewoman named Mademoiselle de Chartres, who finds herself torn between duty and desire when she falls in love with the dashing Duc de Nemours. Set against the backdrop of the French court during the reign of King Henry II, La Princesse de Cleves explores themes of passion, jealousy, and self-sacrifice with a subtlety and depth that set it apart from other works of its time.
From swashbuckling adventures set in exotic locales to tales of forbidden love and betrayal, French romance novels appealed to readers across social classes and cultural divides. Arabella cites many examples of her favorite stories throughout The Female Quixote to justify her behavior and demand certain behaviors from others.
