Themes of The Croquette by Hannah Webster Foster The Coquette by Hannah Webster Foster, published in 1797, has long been considered a sentimental novel with little literary quality. Although The Coquette was a best seller at the time of publication and remained in print through much of the 19th century, critics paid it little attention other than to ridicule the novel. Only in 1978, with the publication of Walter Wenska's The Coquette and the American Dream of Freedom, did Foster's book receive critical attention and praise. Since then, other literary critics have given their attention to The Coquette for critical analysis and praise. These critics have focused on aspects of the novel that had been completely ignored until the last twenty years. Themes discussed by critics include the injustices of patriarchal culture, social attitudes, the portrayal of an economy of vision, the treatment of language and the role of the female circle. It is obvious that modern critics have dug beneath the surface of the sentimental novel to extract significant themes and information written by Foster. In her book Revolution and the Word: The Rise of the Novel in America, Cathy N. Davidson includes The Coquette in the historical narrative Chronology and Criticism of the American Novel. Davidson focuses his writing on the theme of The Coquette as it "does not overtly challenge the basic structure of patriarchal culture but, instead, exposes its fundamental injustices through plot details and disasters" (144). The novel opens with Eliza Wharton expressing both her sadness and relief at Mr. Haly's death. Davidson highlights the injustice of Eliza submitting to an arranged marriage out of obedience to her parents, which contradicts the alleged...... middle of paper... of the above-mentioned writers must underline the depth of Foster's novel .WORKS CITED Baker, Dorothy Z. "Detested by the Epithet!": Definition, Maxim, and the Language of Social Dictates in Hannah Webster Foster's The Coquette. Essays in Literature 23 (1996): 58-68.Davidson, Cathy N. Revolution and the Word: The Rise of the Novel in America. New York: Oxford, 1986.Hamilton, Kristie. “An Assault on the Will: Republican Virtue and the City in Hannah Webster Foster's The Coquette. Early American Literature 24 (1989): 135-151. Pettengill, Claire C. "Sisterhood in a Separate Sphere: Female Friendships in Hannah Webster Foster's The Coquette and The Boarding School." Early American Literature 27 (1992): 185-203. Waldstreicher, David. “Fallen Under My Watch: Vision and Virtue in The Coquette.” Early American literature 27 (1992): 204-218.