''The Female Quixote; or, The Adventures of Arabella'' is a comedic novel by Scottish writer

Charlotte Lennox Charlotte Lennox, ''née'' Ramsay (4 January 1804), was a Scottish author and a literary and cultural critic, whose publishing career flourished in London. Best known for her novel '' The Female Quixote'' (1752), she was frequently praised for ...

imitating and

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

ing the ideas of

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

' ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

''. Published in 1752, two years after she wrote her first novel, ''The Life of Harriot Stuart'', it was her best-known and most-celebrated work. It was approved by both

Henry Fielding Henry Fielding (22 April 1707 – 8 October 1754) was an English writer and magistrate known for the use of humour and satire in his works. His 1749 comic novel ''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'' was a seminal work in the genre. Along wi ...

and

Samuel Richardson Samuel Richardson (baptised 19 August 1689 – 4 July 1761) was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: '' Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' (1740), '' Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady'' (1748) and '' The Histo ...

, applauded by

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

, and used as a model by

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

for ''

Northanger Abbey ''Northanger Abbey'' ( ) is a coming-of-age novel and a satire of Gothic fiction, Gothic novels written by the English author Jane Austen. Although the title page is dated 1818 and the novel was published posthumously in 1817 with ''Persuasio ...

''. It has been called a burlesque, "satirical harlequinade", and a depiction of the real power of females. While some dismissed its protagonist Arabella as a coquette who simply used romance as a tool, Scott Paul Gordon said that she "exercises immense power without any consciousness of doing so". Norma Clarke has ranked it with '' Clarissa'', ''

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

'' and '' Roderick Random'' as one of the "defining texts in the development of the novel in the eighteenth century".

Plot

Arabella, the heroine of the novel, was brought up by her widowed father in a remote English castle, where she read many French romance novels, and, imagining them to be historically accurate, expected her life to be equally adventurous and romantic. When her father died, he declared that she would lose part of her estate if she did not marry her cousin Glanville. After imagining wild fantasies for herself in the country, she visits

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

and London. Glanville is concerned at her mistaken ideas, but continues to love her, while Sir George Bellmour, his friend, attempts to court her in the same chivalric language and high-flown style as in the novels. When she throws herself into the Thames in an attempt to flee from horsemen whom she mistakes for "ravishers" in an imitation of Clélie, she becomes weak and ill. This action might have been inspired by the French satire ''The Mock-Clielia'', in which the heroine "rode at full speed towards the great Canal which she took for the ''Tyber'', and wherein to she threw herself, that she might swim over in imitation of ''Clelia'' whom she believed herself to be". This leads to Arabella falling ill, upon which a doctor is called to take care of her. It is then that the doctor learns of Arabella's delusions concerning romance, and explains to her the difference between literature and reality. As a result, she finally decides to accept Glanville's hand in marriage.

Critical reception

The critical reception of ''The Female Quixote'' was generally favourable: its plot and elevated language, moral vision, and witty commentaries on romance novels were applauded. Fielding's ''Covent-Garden Journal'' gave a favorable notice of her book. Dr. Johnson gave a party in honor of her first novel, ''The Life of Harriot Stuart'', in which he served a "magnificent hot this he would have stuck with bay-leaves," and "further, he had prepared for her a crown of laurel, with which, but not till he had invoked the muses by some ceremonies of his own invention, he encircled her brows". He was much taken with her work and supportive of ''The Female Quixote.'' However, Mrs. Barbauld criticized that it was "rather spun out too much, and not very well wound up." Ronald Paulson remarked that though at first the book seemed to focus "on the heroine's mind", it turned into an "intense psychological scrutiny of by a rather clumsy attempt at the rapid satiric survey of society". Critics have debated whether the last chapter of ''The Female Quixote'' was written by Lennox herself or Samuel Johnson, due to its stylistic differences that appeared to be similar to Johnson's own writing, that stand out from the other chapters of the book. Margaret Dalziel, editor of the 1970 edition of ''The Female Quixote'', mentioned characteristics which she believed to be of Johnson's in a two-page note in the heading of chapter eleven in book nine. However, in the appendix of the same edition, Duncan Isles rejected the claim, saying that the claim rested too much on subjective stylistic evidence. Other factors that suggest Johnson as the author of the last chapter include various typesetting differences. However, the errors have been attributed to various factors, including Lennox's difficulty to complete the last chapters, which likely would have led to her submitting them late to the printing press, resulting in the typeset errors.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Female Quixote, The 1752 novels 18th-century British novels Scottish novels Parody novels Novels based on Don Quixote Novels by Charlotte Lennox