Introduction
The author critiques the major character of the novel, The Female Quixote. On the one hand, the article depicts the main character of the novel as a deviant woman whose desires drive her to contravene society’s norms and values. On the other hand, she sets female discourse in motion. As such, she emerges as the heroine for the entire society. Despite her obsession with romantic readings and tales, Arabella provides women with an entry point to power. The author illuminates contradictory aspects that surround Arabella’s life. An example of these opposing perspectives would include reality and idealism, reason and hysterics, romance, and the readings among many others.
The author amplifies themes that portray Arabella as a social nonconformist and a disgrace to society. Her beliefs contravene medieval British society and as such, she ought not to be the heroine of the book and tend to concur with this notion. However, the theme that comes out clearly entails the roles that the female gender played in medieval British Society. In the novel, Arabella plays the role of a woman who contradicts the prevalent social values and norms in order to provide an avenue where women could have equal opportunities as men.
Indeed, she desires to live by the rules of romance and fiction rather than conform to the 18th century’s reality, customs, and beliefs that were monotonous. This makes her a deviant person in society although she ends up as a heroine. The reason is that her obsession with romance appraises the society in which she was an important member. Considering that the novel was a move to counter Don Quixote, a priory released novel that tended to focus on masculine issues, it befits its description that it provided women with a new perspective regarding society. Hence, the role of Arabella as a nonconformist became overshadowed by that of a heroine of women’s enlightenment.
By illustrating the feminine virtues of medieval British society, Arabella represents women’s struggles and antagonistic relationships with men. She becomes a perfect reader and becomes alienated from reality. Her obsession with reading gives way to her inability to differentiate romantic tales and reality. This insinuates that though the need for a more equitable society between both genders, this remained a dream as was Arabella’s perception of romance.
Another theme that the author seeks to highlight is the wealth and social disparities that typified British society. Arabella’s father is depicted as an extremely wealthy man who is able to hire private tutors to teach her daughter French lessons. In addition, she used to study in amongst the most equipped private libraries. It is surprising to see her refusing to imitate other European princesses in the fear that she might lose her cause and become a victim of the repressed reality. The rationale is that Arabella still perceived people around her as mere characters in her romantic tale. This depicts her changing roles through the story which is absurd because some of the roles undermine her heroic struggles for women.
Conclusion
The novel features the social structures of British societies in the eighteenth century. The article depicts the heroine, Arabella, as a normal woman born in a wealthy family. Her life is a move from the conventionally laid values to an adventurous life that is devoid of monotony and male domination. However, it is full of illusions and idealism that defeats her cause. She is therefore a heroine who failed to distinguish realism from idealism.