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.
Volume 2, Book 9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Volume 2, Book 9, Chapters 1-4 Summary
Miss Glanville is excited to arrive in London at last. She begins setting up social appointments across the city, but Arabella is reluctant to join her. Arabella has inherited her father’s “Resentments” of Court and other high society functions (333). When Mr. Glanville gives her a tour of the city, she compares everything unfavorably to her romances. At one social event, she causes a scandal by intervening in a dispute between an officer and his mistress. Mr. Glanville is annoyed at her behavior and resolves to never attend social events while she continues in “the same ridiculous Folly” (339).
Soon, the polluted city becomes too much for Arabella, and she goes to stay in the suburban area of Richmond, where Mr. Glanville visits her every day. When walking through a park with Lucy, Arabella hears a woman crying. She approaches and asks to hear the woman’s story. The woman introduces herself as Cynecia, the daughter of the Prince of Gaul, who is searching for an unfaithful lover named Ariamenes. She fled her homeland so that she would not be forced to marry a man she did not love, but she cannot find Ariamenes, who promised to wait for her. The two women promise to meet again soon.
Volume 2, Book 9, Chapters 5-8 Summary
After a restless night, Arabella meets with Cynecia again. In the distance, they spot Mr. Glanville, who planned to meet with Arabella later in the day. Horrified, Cynecia collapses in a swoon. She accuses Mr. Glanville of being her unfaithful lover, “the ungrateful Ariamenes” (349), and runs away. Arabella tells Mr. Glanville, through Lucy, that she does not want to see him. Mr. Glanville is confused but chases after her.
Arabella retires to her chambers and shouts through her door that if Mr. Glanville wants an explanation for his banishment, then he should “ask the inconstant Ariamenes” (351). Despite his efforts to clear up the misunderstanding, Arabella refuses to see him. He immediately assumes that Sir George has devised “some Plot grounded on [Arabella’s] Romantick Notions” (354). He tells her servant, Mr. Roberts, to keep an eye on her. While he frets, Arabella nearly doubts herself. She returns to the park to find Cynecia, but she is swept along in a crowd of women.
Mr. Glanville visits Sir George and spots him in the distance, accompanied by a woman dressed in Arabella’s veil. Thinking that Arabella is with Sir George, he rushes to him and challenges him to a duel. In the confusion, Sir George is wounded. Mr. Glanville immediately loses steam and sets about helping Sir George. He realizes that the woman in the veil is his sister.
The doctor treats Sir George’s wounds, which, though very bad, are not fatal. Mr. Roberts comes with a message that Arabella is very sick. Miss Glanville cares for Sir George while Mr. Glanville rushes to Arabella.
Volume 2, Book 9, Chapters 9-12 Summary
Mr. Glanville learns how Arabella became ill: While walking in the park, she became convinced that she spotted a group of “Ravishers” (362). Remembering an example from her novels, she leaped into the River Thames to escape. Mr. Roberts rescued her, though she seemed “to all Appearances dead” (363). He carried her to his house and then fetched Mr. Glanville.
During this time, Miss Glanville had also figured out Sir George’s plot and conspired to disguise herself as Arabella to trick him. She was dressed in Arabella’s veil when Mr. Glanville attacked Sir George. Arabella is near death, and Sir George is very weak. Miss Glanville blames herself for Sir George’s misfortune. Mr. Glanville attends to Arabella’s bedside while she is treated.
The doctor is surprised that such an intelligent young woman should be so consumed by a “Delusion” and resolves to cure her of her love of romance novels. Once Arabella is on the road to recovery, Mr. Glanville confronts Sir George, who confesses to his plot: He hired an actress to play Cynecia and accuse Mr. Glanville of being a villain. Mr. Glanville resolves never to trust Sir George ever again. The doctor slowly helps Arabella separate delusion from reality by using logic and sympathy. Once she is cured, she agrees to marry Mr. Glanville at last. At the same time, Sir George marries Miss Glanville.
Volume 2, Book 9 Analysis
Book 9 is dominated by The Danger and Allure of Escapism, particularly in Sir George’s elaborate plot to redeem himself in Arabella’s eyes and win her love at Mr. Glanville’s expense. To do this, he hires a young actress and concocts an elaborate story that frames Mr. Glanville as a treacherous lover, one of the worst crimes in Arabella’s world. The plot is a seismic shift in the novel; for the first time, the principles of romantic love and chivalry are made manifest in the real world. Though they are only part of an elaborate performance, this is the first time that a princess and her lover transcend the written word. They are no longer confined to the page or Arabella’s delusions, but this also means they come with real-world risks. The plan is particularly cunning because Mr. Glanville is targeted as a villain, whereas Sir George’s previous attempts sought to frame himself as a hero. Rather than lifting himself up, he is now attempting to drag his rival down. Sir George’s plan fails because it is constructed on a brittle scaffolding of intersecting lies. The story does not stand up to scrutiny and relies on Arabella’s not questioning what she is told. This works at first, and Arabella rebukes Mr. Glanville, potentially ruining their relationship. Once the element of doubt is introduced, however, the operation is exposed as a farcical theatrical production with no substance. This reflects the nature of Arabella’s worldview as a whole, something that is incompatible with the real world.
While Sir George plots to convince Arabella that she should love him, Miss Glanville plots from the opposite direction. Inspired by Sir George’s plans, she wears Arabella’s famous veil and pretends to be her cousin while she meets with Sir George. The danger of such deceptions is underlined when Mr. Glanville spots her and is equally convinced that she is Arabella, causing him to fly into a rage and stab Sir George. For all of Arabella’s grand declarations about violence and suicide, this is a stark reminder from Lennox that violence is not romantic. Mr. Glanville immediately breaks out of his fury and helps get Sir George to a doctor. This event is also an example of irony in action, as Sir George is stabbed because of a woman pretending to be someone else when his plan to woo Arabella rests on an actress convincing her that Mr. Glanville is a villain. After performing a role for Arabella, Sir George is hurt by a woman performing the role of Arabella for him. He and Mrs. Glanville find love in each other, showing the value of honesty over performing to gain someone’s affection.
At the end of the novel, Arabella shows her capacity for change. Though her delusion has been steadfast until this point, her near-death experience changes her, caused by a perilous dive into the Thames as she tries to escape from a group of men. This is the final way the story illustrates the danger of Arabella’s worldview—in the real world, it causes her to put her life at risk. Her submersion into the water is a chastening experience for Arabella, a symbolic baptism that initiates her into adulthood and reality. She is rescued by two men, her real heroes. During her sickness, Mr. Glanville keeps a constant vigil by her side. He has defended her honor against Sir George and proved himself as worthy as any of the knights from her stories. At the same time, she meets a doctor who respects her. Language’s Ability to Connect and Separate reemerges as a theme through their interactions. Using reason and logic, he leads her out of her delusion, just as he leads her back to health. Arabella emerges from her sickness as a changed woman, but ironically, she also gets what she always wanted. Through her marriage to Mr. Glanville, she is given the fairytale ending she wanted in the form of an honorable and admirable husband. She may no longer believe in chivalry as the guiding principle of the world, but the end of her story is worthy of any of her romantic novels.
