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Eliza Wharton is the novel’s protagonist and the titular “coquette”—an epithet frequently applied to her by the people in her social circle. Eliza is young, innocent, and new to the social world, having been previously confined by an unwanted engagement. Eliza is curiously and highly self-aware, and incredibly naïve. She is conscious of her love of fashionable and extravagant living. She is aware, as she tells Mr. Boyer, that “[s]elf knowledge […] is that most important of all sciences [that] I have yet to learn” (28). She is also fickle and indecisive. The people in her social circle easily influence her feelings toward the men in her life. Despite this, she is frequently praised for her intelligence, liveliness, and filial devotion. She is willing to sacrifice her own happiness in order to act in accordance with her family’s wishes for her future. In addition, she esteems her mother over all else. By the end of the novel, Eliza cares only for the forgiveness of heaven and her mother.
The plot of the novel focuses on the conflict Eliza feels in choosing a suitor. Reverend John Boyer appeals to her sense of honor, her want of stability, and her religiosity. Major Peter Sanford, on the other hand, appeals to her love of entertainment, wealth, and high society. By leading Boyer on, she loses her chance with him. He breaks off ties, deeming her a flirt. Eliza regrets this intensely and falls into a deep depression for much of the novel. Her friends and family try to lift her spirits in vain. Major Sanford steps in to fill the void Boyer left. He and Eliza begin an illicit affair, which culminates in her getting pregnant. Eliza goes into hiding and eventually dies after giving birth.
Author Hannah Foster based Eliza on the real life case of Elizabeth Whitman, an apparently high-class Connecticut woman who died in a tavern after giving birth. Whitman’s death caused a sensation. The fall of this woman of privilege and position became a warning tale for all young women in early America. Eliza Wharton’s tale gives a sympathetic—if fictional— backstory to Whitman. While Eliza’s actions in the story were intended to be shocking and morally corrupt, it is important to note that she is fundamentally a victim. Her seduction by Major Sanford and their subsequent affair seems inevitable to both the reader and to Eliza’s friends. Because her emotions are unmastered, she is unable to avoid the fate of Elizabeth Whitman. Eliza, like her real-life counterpart, is meant to be an example. This is emphasized by Julia Granby and Lucy Sumner, who, after Eliza’s death, condemn both her behavior and the man who ruined her, but who also remind the reader of Eliza’s virtues and positive qualities. These, they hope, will outlive the infamy of her death.
Major Peter Sanford is a fashionable man who is home in high-society and at social gatherings, balls, parties, and the like. He is a man of vanity and gallantry, but his plot arch reveals this to be a front. Sanford has lived a life of wealth and dissipation. A self-described rake and libertine, Sanford indulges in sensory pleasures, delighting, as Eliza’s friends frequently warn her, in the destruction of women. Sanford views women as expendable: once he has got what he has wanted from one, he moves onto the next. In addition, he views marriage as a trap to be avoided. This puts him at odds with the ethos of his society, which privileges marriage and honorable conduct above all else.
Sanford meets Eliza through mutual friends and becomes quickly enamored with her. He reveals his plans and feelings through letters to his friend Charles Deighton. Initially, he intends only to use Eliza for his pleasures, just as he has done with countless other women. However, as Eliza and Reverend Boyer’s relationship advances, Sanford becomes obsessed with her and determines to separate them. He achieves this through emotionally manipulating Eliza. He regrets that he cannot marry her because he has no fortune. To remedy this, he leaves for a year, engaging in speculation in the American South. This fails, and to remedy his fortunes, he marries Nancy Laurence, a young woman of wealth. They move to Hartford, Eliza’s home town, where he and Eliza begin an affair. When Eliza’s health declines and she reveals she’s pregnant, Sanford hides her away. Nancy leaves him and all of his property is mortgaged. By the end of the novel, Sanford is destitute. Heartbroken over the loss of Eliza, he flees from America to seek his fortune elsewhere.
At the beginning of the novel, Mr. Boyer is a young man, just out of university, who is seeking to become a clergyman. Boyer is the safe option of Eliza’s suitors. He is stable and honorable, and his profession promises a comfortable life. Because of the sober nature of his career, he does not engage in the same social pleasures that Eliza craves. He meets her coquettishness and inclination toward dissipation with consternation. Because of this, Eliza tends to view him as prudish and boring compared with Major Sanford. Though Boyer loves Eliza, he is able to balance passion with rationality; his mind is able to conquer his heart, and his sense of honor and duty outweigh reckless romantic inclinations. Eliza keeps him at arm’s length, neither accepting nor denying his romantic advances. When Boyer walks in on Sanford and Eliza in apparent intimacy, he breaks off all connection with her. Though Eliza later repents and begs him to love her again, he remains resolute. He is glad that she has apparently changed her ways and wishes for her friendship. Boyer marries Maria Selby, his close friend’s sister.
A close friend of Eliza and Lucy, Julia appears late in the novel, sent by Lucy to stay at the Wharton’s house in an attempt to relieve Eliza’s depression. Lucy has a strong sense of morality, very much in line with that of her society. She views a woman’s virtue and chastity as paramount and attempts to reform Eliza. Despite these rigid morals, Julia attempts to reintroduce fun and society into Eliza’s life. In many ways, Julia is a foil to Eliza. She, like Eliza, is an unengaged, largely independent young woman. Unlike Eliza, Julia exercises discretion, sobriety, and moderation in her actions. She is attractive and fun, but exercises such self-control that even Major Sanford notes that he would never dream of attempting to seduce her. Julia frequently chastises and reprimands Eliza, especially when she learns of her affair with Sanford. However, she does so because she cares deeply about her friend and wishes to save her from an awful fate. When Eliza dies, Julia has a tombstone erected that praises Eliza’s virtues and positive qualities.
Lucy is one of Eliza’s best friends and Eliza’s most frequent correspondent throughout the novel. Eliza often turns to Lucy for advice, seeking her opinion before making decisions. Lucy expresses disapproval concerning Eliza’s conduct toward Mr. Boyer and Major Sanford. Like most of her friends, Lucy attempts to push Eliza toward Boyer. Partway through the novel, Lucy gets married and changes her last name from Freeman to Sumner. She moves to Boston with her husband. Distance and lifestyle differences push Eliza and Lucy apart; this is compounded by Eliza’s worsening depression. By the end of the novel, Lucy’s function is largely replaced by Julia Granby, who is with Eliza up until her disappearance and death.
Wife of General Richman and one of Eliza’s best friends, Mrs. Richman consistently provides contrast to Eliza’s character in the first third of the novel. She is a stable woman who exhibits all of the correct attributes of a married woman in early American society. She is chaste, virtuous, and true to her husband. Though Eliza frequently describes Mrs. Richman as prudish, her awareness of what it takes to succeed as a woman in upper-class society makes her more prudent than anything. She makes a crucial mistake, however, by warning Eliza too late of the danger Major Sanford poses. Late in the novel, Mrs. Richman has a daughter who dies young.
Daughter of the wealthy Mr. Laurence, Nancy is another unfortunate target of Major Sanford. She is described as beautiful, but without many other merits. She is very taken with Sanford and ends up marrying him. Her marriage is loveless and miserable. She has no friends, and Sanford squanders her fortune. Sanford attempts to get her and Eliza to become friends merely to get closer to Eliza. Nancy gives birth to a stillborn child, which Sanford hardly even acknowledges. By the end of the novel, Nancy divorces Sanford and moves back to her parents’ home.
When Eliza’s father died, Mrs. Wharton poured all of her devotion and love into raising her daughter. Mrs. Wharton is a caring and dedicated mother. Eliza frequently turns to her for advice. Because Mr. Wharton was a clergyman, Mrs. Wharton is very taken with Mr. Boyer; Eliza jokes to Lucy that her mother may be competition for Boyer’s affection. During Eliza’s downward spiral, she vows that she will forgive her daughter no matter what. When the news comes that Eliza has died, Mrs. Wharton laments that Eliza did not turn to her for comfort and support.
Selby is a close friend of Reverend Boyer. When Boyer leaves to establish himself as clergyman, Selby visits the Richmans and keeps tabs on Eliza. Selby cares for Boyer greatly and looks out for his wellbeing. Observing Eliza and Sanford’s conduct, he warns Boyer that she is a flirt and is not worth risking his honor for. Boyer later marries Selby’s sister, Maria.
Little is known of Deighton, besides the fact that he is one of Major Sanford’s best friends. Sanford writes to him frequently; he is the only person that the major is completely open with. Deighton, like Sanford, is a rake and a libertine. He does not appear in the novel, nor are his responses included.
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