Eliza's Fault In Post-Revolutionary America

Many people tend to blame others when things go wrong in their lives while most of the time they themselves are also to blame. To most, pointing fingers at others may seem much easier than taking the responsibilities of one’s actions. From Puritans’ point of view, everything that happens in life is pre-determined so they accept it as part of God’s plan or God’s way of chastising them. However, in post-revolutionary America, people are less religion oriented and more concerned about freedom and living a lavish lifestyle. Their belief in free will is much stronger, therefore they often explain problems as one’s own fault or others. In Hannah Webster Foster’s The Coquette or The History of Eliza Wharton that was published in 1797, we can see that
From the begging Eliza tells Lucy that even if she behaves coquettishly, “they proceed from and innocent heart” (Foster 844). We can see that Eliza knows about her coquettish tendencies and even Sanford immediately identifies her as a coquette (Foster 851). Her justification of such behaviors shows that she doesn’t see the harm in it even though she is warned many times by Lucy and Mrs. Richman. Mrs. Richman tells her that Sanford is a libertine who destroys families (Foster 852). “Beware of the delusions of fancy!” says Mrs. Richman (Foster 852). “Their evil propensities of their minds will invariably dominate.” Says Lucy (Foster 858). The warnings somewhat affects Eliza’s behavior but she keeps being a coquette even though Mrs. Richman warned her about exercising too much freedom will lead to bad things. “Though strowed with flowers… it is, after all, a slippery, thorny path.” Says Mrs. Richman (Foster 848). After losing Boyer for good, Eliza doesn’t follow Lucy’s advice of forgetting all former connections but instead starts seeing Sanford again (Foster 904). Second, it is Major Sanford’s fault for seducing Eliza even though he has no intention in marrying her (Foster 854). He wants to keep her around for his own satisfaction and he doesn’t want to see her with another man (Foster 861). He reminds Eliza how marrying Boyer will subject her to restrained and confined life (Foster 861). This made Eliza entertains the thought of finding