Written in 1752, the novel The Female Quixote; or, The Adventures of Arabella by Charlotte Lenox was a masterful representation of societal orders of the eighteenth century through the main character’s life and adventures. This work stirs various emotions and makes contemporary young ladies deliberate on the notion of romance and its role in contemporary lives. So, this paper will unveil how Arabella’s attitude towards romance affected her life greatly and if it was worth it. This is a splendid story telling how youth of any age and century is up to their contemporary moral and social orders, rather than getting back to two hundred years old morality. Namely, the main heroine named Arabella seems to be too overwhelmed with Romance that she used to read about when she was younger. It seems it is the only way for her to behave and conduct than facing the reality and admitting she lives in a flash back. She is a silly and naïve girl who tends to irritate others around unintentionally.
Arabella is a beautiful lady who considers every man she encounters to carry her away. This is funny and at the same time very sad since Arabella has no possible way out of her dreams and imagination. She thinks that every woman she meets has some kind of a sob love story about the past experiences. Although being very graceful and elegant, Arabella is full of images of this world to contain murderous violence, uncontrollable passions, and outmoded notions. The greatest challenge that Arabella is faced to because of her Romance beliefs is inability to have normal relationships with the man who loves her and wants to marry her. This is completely ridiculous that Arabella’s conduct forces Sir George Bellmour to act like a chivalry night in order to please her demands. Unfortunately, there is no other way to her heart. The story reads hilarious about his attempts to woo her according to the rules of Romances and I was said when all his zest backfired on him. It is very nice to read about her tales, but the notions of love were way too out of fashion. Therefore, Arabella gets into very silly and sometimes dangerous situations throughout the book. For example, when she throws herself into the river because she thought the horseman wants to rape her, she fell ill for some time.
Arabella is doomed to have senseless life because living in dreams and imagination is purposeless unless there is someone to take care of such a person. And, luckily, her cousin Glanville happens to be the one to save her from such a faulty perception of the environment. A clergyman gets Arabella back to reality and she marries Glanville. However, it is absolutely funny how she stands up against the contemporary notions and speaks lengthily about the Romance stories when defending the heroines. Thus, I was very much glad that there were some characters to help Arabella go through these tough times. The Countess was just amazing!
I was intrigued to read the work until the end. It is a fabulous representation of the eighteenth century conduct rules. Needless to say, women are still keen on Romance stories, though living in the twenty first century. And they still have their dreams crashed over the reality of the societal orders because romance is not permanent, whereas daily routine is.