The Female Quixote (1752) is a novel by Charlotte Lennox. A parody of Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote, Lennox's novel was an immediate critical and commercial success. Boosted by praise from Samuel Johnson, Henry Fielding, and Samuel Richardson, The Female Quixote launched Lennox's career as a leading author of English plays, poetry, and novels. Although she failed to regain her early heights as an author, Lennox and her work have undergone positive reappraisal by twentieth century feminist scholars, securing her long-underrecognized reputation as an important precursor to Jane Austen and countless other writers.Raised in a remote English castle by her father, Arabella makes up for a lack of formal education with an endless appetite for French romance novels. Although exceedingly intelligent, her lack of experience and overactive imagination lead her to fantasize about the world outside. Envisioning a life of adventure and romance, she receives a rude awakening when, upon the death of her father, she is to be left his estate on the condition she marry her cousin Glanville. Making her way to London via Bath, Arabella makes a positive impression on the young gentleman, who recognizes her innocence but remains determined to love her. As he attempts to educate her on the realities of city life, his friend Sir George Bellmour tries to take advantage of her through a courtship veiled in the chivalry of her beloved novels. When a case of mistaken identity leads to Arabella being gravely injured, Glanville is forced to decide whether the young woman he cares for will ever manage to come to terms with their shared reality. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Charlotte Lennox's The Female Quixote is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

The Female Quixote (1752) is a novel by Charlotte Lennox. A parody of Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote, Lennox’s novel was an immediate critical and commercial success. Boosted by praise from Samuel Johnson, Henry Fielding, and Samuel Richardson, The Female Quixote launched Lennox’s career as a leading author of English plays, poetry, and novels. Although she failed to regain her early heights as an author, Lennox and her work have undergone positive reappraisal by twentieth century feminist scholars, securing her long-underrecognized reputation as an important precursor to Jane Austen and countless other writers.Raised in a remote English castle by her father, Arabella makes up for a lack of formal education with an endless appetite for French romance novels. Although exceedingly intelligent, her lack of experience and overactive imagination lead her to fantasize about the world outside. Envisioning a life of adventure and romance, she receives a rude awakening when, upon the death of her father, she is to be left his estate on the condition she marry her cousin Glanville. Making her way to London via Bath, Arabella makes a positive impression on the young gentleman, who recognizes her innocence but remains determined to love her. As he attempts to educate her on the realities of city life, his friend Sir George Bellmour tries to take advantage of her through a courtship veiled in the chivalry of her beloved novels. When a case of mistaken identity leads to Arabella being gravely injured, Glanville is forced to decide whether the young woman he cares for will ever manage to come to terms with their shared reality. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Charlotte Lennox’s The Female Quixote is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

Beautiful and independent, Arabella has been brought up in rural seclusion by her widowed father. Devoted to reading French romances, the sheltered young woman imagines all sorts of misadventures that can befall a heroine such as herself. As she makes forays into fashionable society in Bath and London, many scrapes and mortifications ensue - all men seem like predators wishing to ravish her, she mistakes a cross-dressing prostitute for a distressed gentlewoman, and she risks her life by throwing herself into the Thames to avoid a potential seducer. Can Arabella be cured of her romantic delusions? An immediate success when it first appeared in 1752, The Female Quixote is a wonderfully high-spirited parody of the style of Cervantes, and a telling and comic depiction of eighteenth-century English society.

When he had finished reading, he cast a tender glance at me; and, looking over the last verse again, "I hope, miss, said he, you will have no reason to make this affecting complaint. Fortune can never be so unjust as to make you seel any of her rigours." "Ah, how much are you deceived, sir, interrupted I, fortune has always been my enemy; and I have experienced the most cruel effects of her hate, almost from the very moment of my birth."

The Female Quixote (1752), a vivacious and ironical novel parodying the style of Cervantes, portrays the beautiful and aristocratic Arabella, whose passion for reading romances leads her into all manner of misunderstandings. Praised by Fielding, Richardson and Samuel Johnson, the book quickly established Charlotte Lennox as a foremost writer of the Novel of Sentiment. With an excellent introduction and full explanatory notes, this edition will be of particular interest to students of women's literature, and of the eighteenth-century novel. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.