Arabella is able to create her own identity and develop her own sense of self-worth and need for protection.
One of the most important ways that Lennox allows for female agency through the romance world is Arabella's ability to create her own identity and, in many ways, write her own history. Through reading these romances, Arabella develops a very strong notion of her own importance in the world and she seems to have high self-esteem. Because of this, Arabella often commands authority and controls the men around her, challenging social standards and accepted roles for women. Arabella constantly challenges these social conditions and "proper" notions of femininity by the fact that she creates and inhabits a world governed by the strictures of the romance novel and courtly love, instead of one governed by economic exchange of women through marriage. Though at times Lennox seems to mock Arabella, as Christine Roulston explains, “since Arabella is excluded from
legitimate structures of power, fantasizing a female role with power
becomes a critique of contemporary social conditions as much as of
Arabella herself” (34).
Arabella's identity-fashioning is evident from the beginning of the novel. For example, after Arabella drives Mr. Hervey away for what she (mistakenly) thinks is a rape attempt, responds in a measured and deliberate way to his “threats”: “Arabella, in order to be completely generous, a Quality for which all the Heroines are famous, laid a Command upon her two Attendants not to mention what had passed…” (Lennox 21). Arabella associates herself with these characters to the point where it affects her conduct. She does not seem the romantic heroines as mere “characters,” however, but as women role-models, perhaps even her “matriarchs,” whose examples she studies carefully and follows closely. Later, when responding to her father’s request that she marry Mr. Glanville, Arabella demonstrates this same tendency:
“Since, my Lord, resumed she, in an exalted Tone, I do not yield, either in Virtue or Courage, to many others of my Sex, who, when persecuted like me, have fled to Death for Relief, I know not why I should be thought less capable of it than
they; and if Artimisa, Candace, and the beautiful daughter of Cleopatra, could brave the Terrors of Death for the sake of the Men they loved, there is no Question but I also could imitate their Courage, to avoid the Man I have so much Reason to hate” (Lennox 54)
In this instance, Arabella carefully constructs her actions based on the example of several heroines, assuming that every word written about them in their respective romances is true. Instead of allowing social norms to dictate her behavior and decisions, she adopts the values expressed in the romances, which she views as being morally superior.
Quite often throughout the novel, Arabella also exercises a more extreme type of authority. At times, she banishes men from her sight until they prove themselves worthy of her, as is seen below:
“Therefore, Glanville, considering you, as Cleopatra did that Unfortunate Prince, who was before suspected by her, as neither guilty nor innocent, I can only, like her, wish you may find some occasion of justifying yourself, from the Crime laid to your Charge: Till then, I must be under a Necessity of banishing you from my Presence, with the same consolatory Speech she used to that unfortunate Prince: ‘Go, therefore, Glanville, go, and endeavor your own Justification; I desire you should effect it, no less than you do yourself; and, if my Prayers can obtain from Heaven this Favour for you, I shall not scruple to offer some in your behalf’” (Lennox 115)
Throughout the text Arabella commands authority and has no doubt that the men will listen to her. Roultson states that “Arabella redefines the position of the feminine by assuming the female subjects absolute and unquestioned
centrality, while male figures revolve around the margins” (33). For example, she believes that Sir George is going to kill himself in front of her for having offended her (like Lysimachus says he will do in Cassandra and Agilmond attempts to do in Pharamond), but has no fear because once she commands him not to, she knows he will not Similarly, she believes that Glanville's illness is a result of his passion for her, and commands him to get better, fully expecting that he will.
Apart from modeling her behavior after romance heroines and transliterating their authoritative powers, Arabella defines the idea of a Lady's reputation for Miss Glanville in a way that provides women with an important role, one that rests on a woman's ability to make an impact in the world around her:
"By your Discourse, Miss, replied Arabella, one would imagine, you knew as little in what the good Reputation of a Lady consists, as the Safety of a Man; for certainly the one depends intirely upon his Sword, and the other upon the Noise and Bustle she makes in the World. The Blood that is shed for a Lady, enhances the Value of her Charms; and the more Men a Hero kills, the greater his Glory, and, by Consequence, the more secure he is. If to be the Cause of a great many Deaths, can make a Lady infamous; certainly none were ever more so, than Mandana, Cleopatra, and Statira, the most illustrious Names in Antiquity; for each of whom, haply, an hundred thousand Men were killed: Yet none were ever so unjust, as to profane the Virtue of those Divine Beauties, by casting any Censures upon them for these glorious Effects of their Charms, and the heroic Valour of their Admirers" (128).
Here, Arabella explains that a "Lady's" reputation depends on the impact she "noise" she makes and the blood that is shed for her. As the endnote explains, these ideas stand against standards of femininity in the eighteenth century. While Lennox probably did not measure the reputation of a Lady by the blood shed for her, Arabella's description of women's active and essential role in society puts pressure on the Countess's idea at the end of the novel of what a lady's life should measure up to. In recounting her history the Countess states:
"when I tell you, pursued she with a Smile, that I was born and christen'd, had a useful and proper Education, receiv'd the Addresses of my Lord —— through the Recommendation of my Parents, and marry'd him with their Consents and my own Inclination; and that since we have liv'd in great Harmony together, I have told you all the material Passages of my Life, which upon Enquiry you will find differ very little from those of other Women of the same Rank, who have a moderate Share of Sense, Prudence and Virtue."
Despite the countess's own familiarity with romances, her values are fashioned after eighteenth-century England's normative feminine domestic philosophy. Contrarily, the model of womanhood the heroines of the romance create allows Arabella the belief that her life is important and that her desire for action in her world is something to be admired, granting her the freedom to have "adventures," which the Countess later finds offensive, and to seek meaning in her life.
While some of these "adventures" seem to be examples of the ridiculous or illogical expectations set by what she learns from her romance reading, at the same time, Arabella develops a clear sense of her own authority and identity. Roulston argues that The Female Quixote "dramatizes the struggle for the appropriation of meaning itself, along gender lines" (30). Arabella thus chooses the ways that meaning is made in the text, and the other characters must learn her code and her means of communicating. While Arabella ultimately learns from the doctor that she is wrong to trust her romances as true histories, this signals the end of the text and the end of Arabella's story.
Arabella's identity-fashioning is evident from the beginning of the novel. For example, after Arabella drives Mr. Hervey away for what she (mistakenly) thinks is a rape attempt, responds in a measured and deliberate way to his “threats”: “Arabella, in order to be completely generous, a Quality for which all the Heroines are famous, laid a Command upon her two Attendants not to mention what had passed…” (Lennox 21). Arabella associates herself with these characters to the point where it affects her conduct. She does not seem the romantic heroines as mere “characters,” however, but as women role-models, perhaps even her “matriarchs,” whose examples she studies carefully and follows closely. Later, when responding to her father’s request that she marry Mr. Glanville, Arabella demonstrates this same tendency:
“Since, my Lord, resumed she, in an exalted Tone, I do not yield, either in Virtue or Courage, to many others of my Sex, who, when persecuted like me, have fled to Death for Relief, I know not why I should be thought less capable of it than
they; and if Artimisa, Candace, and the beautiful daughter of Cleopatra, could brave the Terrors of Death for the sake of the Men they loved, there is no Question but I also could imitate their Courage, to avoid the Man I have so much Reason to hate” (Lennox 54)
In this instance, Arabella carefully constructs her actions based on the example of several heroines, assuming that every word written about them in their respective romances is true. Instead of allowing social norms to dictate her behavior and decisions, she adopts the values expressed in the romances, which she views as being morally superior.
Quite often throughout the novel, Arabella also exercises a more extreme type of authority. At times, she banishes men from her sight until they prove themselves worthy of her, as is seen below:
“Therefore, Glanville, considering you, as Cleopatra did that Unfortunate Prince, who was before suspected by her, as neither guilty nor innocent, I can only, like her, wish you may find some occasion of justifying yourself, from the Crime laid to your Charge: Till then, I must be under a Necessity of banishing you from my Presence, with the same consolatory Speech she used to that unfortunate Prince: ‘Go, therefore, Glanville, go, and endeavor your own Justification; I desire you should effect it, no less than you do yourself; and, if my Prayers can obtain from Heaven this Favour for you, I shall not scruple to offer some in your behalf’” (Lennox 115)
Throughout the text Arabella commands authority and has no doubt that the men will listen to her. Roultson states that “Arabella redefines the position of the feminine by assuming the female subjects absolute and unquestioned
centrality, while male figures revolve around the margins” (33). For example, she believes that Sir George is going to kill himself in front of her for having offended her (like Lysimachus says he will do in Cassandra and Agilmond attempts to do in Pharamond), but has no fear because once she commands him not to, she knows he will not Similarly, she believes that Glanville's illness is a result of his passion for her, and commands him to get better, fully expecting that he will.
Apart from modeling her behavior after romance heroines and transliterating their authoritative powers, Arabella defines the idea of a Lady's reputation for Miss Glanville in a way that provides women with an important role, one that rests on a woman's ability to make an impact in the world around her:
"By your Discourse, Miss, replied Arabella, one would imagine, you knew as little in what the good Reputation of a Lady consists, as the Safety of a Man; for certainly the one depends intirely upon his Sword, and the other upon the Noise and Bustle she makes in the World. The Blood that is shed for a Lady, enhances the Value of her Charms; and the more Men a Hero kills, the greater his Glory, and, by Consequence, the more secure he is. If to be the Cause of a great many Deaths, can make a Lady infamous; certainly none were ever more so, than Mandana, Cleopatra, and Statira, the most illustrious Names in Antiquity; for each of whom, haply, an hundred thousand Men were killed: Yet none were ever so unjust, as to profane the Virtue of those Divine Beauties, by casting any Censures upon them for these glorious Effects of their Charms, and the heroic Valour of their Admirers" (128).
Here, Arabella explains that a "Lady's" reputation depends on the impact she "noise" she makes and the blood that is shed for her. As the endnote explains, these ideas stand against standards of femininity in the eighteenth century. While Lennox probably did not measure the reputation of a Lady by the blood shed for her, Arabella's description of women's active and essential role in society puts pressure on the Countess's idea at the end of the novel of what a lady's life should measure up to. In recounting her history the Countess states:
"when I tell you, pursued she with a Smile, that I was born and christen'd, had a useful and proper Education, receiv'd the Addresses of my Lord —— through the Recommendation of my Parents, and marry'd him with their Consents and my own Inclination; and that since we have liv'd in great Harmony together, I have told you all the material Passages of my Life, which upon Enquiry you will find differ very little from those of other Women of the same Rank, who have a moderate Share of Sense, Prudence and Virtue."
Despite the countess's own familiarity with romances, her values are fashioned after eighteenth-century England's normative feminine domestic philosophy. Contrarily, the model of womanhood the heroines of the romance create allows Arabella the belief that her life is important and that her desire for action in her world is something to be admired, granting her the freedom to have "adventures," which the Countess later finds offensive, and to seek meaning in her life.
While some of these "adventures" seem to be examples of the ridiculous or illogical expectations set by what she learns from her romance reading, at the same time, Arabella develops a clear sense of her own authority and identity. Roulston argues that The Female Quixote "dramatizes the struggle for the appropriation of meaning itself, along gender lines" (30). Arabella thus chooses the ways that meaning is made in the text, and the other characters must learn her code and her means of communicating. While Arabella ultimately learns from the doctor that she is wrong to trust her romances as true histories, this signals the end of the text and the end of Arabella's story.
