The Female Quixote tells the story of Arabella, who has been raised in seclusion in a castle by her father, a Marquis in self imposed exile. Her education consisted primarily of romance novels, and so she imagines herself as the heroine in a romance novel to a degree that makes her seem utterly bonkers.

For example: She assumes that a young gardener at her estate is, in fact, a “Person Of Quality” who is concealed in such a position so that he might be nearer to her. When he’s caught trying to steal a carp, she instead believes that his passion for her has led to great despair, and he is going to drown himself.

She believes that any man she meets is in love with her. If one of her lovers takes ill—which happens—she is certain she can cure him with her command. She is constantly in a terror that she will be kidnapped. Anything that happens to her is seen through the lens of a romance plot.

The romances she read are French ones that were set in the Middle Ages or even Antiquity, and I was fascinated to see how certain plot conventions have changed. (The term “romance” has many meanings, and is really problematic, which is a blog post for another time, or perhaps even my thesis. But I digress…) According to Arabella, the gravest offence a man can commit is to tell her he loves her—I know! It’s a startling contrast to today’s romances when the hero confessing his love to the heroine is the climax of the book.

Personal aside: When my dear fiancé had yet to say the L Word to me, my mother jokingly offered to “stage a kidnapping” aka engineer a black moment so that he would say it! See above about fears of kidnapping, and thinking life is like a romance novel, etc. Such a dramatic scheme was, fortunately, not necessary.

So The Female Quixote mocks romances, particularly the notion that its readers will assume that life is truly like that. For some reason, it is a Serious Concern that isn’t often voiced about readers of science fiction, the bible, murder mysteries, etc. Why is that?

©2010 Maya Rodale Blog. All Rights Reserved.

I first encountered Belinda in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey–it’s one of the books the heroine reads, and there’s a funny line about it: “Oh! It is only a novel!’ replies the young lady…”It is only Cecila, Camilla, or Belinda‘; or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed…” And so it goes on.

There are other Belinda/Jane Austen links. Belinda has an unfortunate encounter overhearing the hero, Clarence Hervey, and his friends make unpleasant remarks about her and her family…a la Elizabeth and Darcy. See also Penelope Featherington overhearing Colin Bridgerton declaring that he Will Never Marry Penelope (famous last words!) in Julia Quinn’s Romancing Mr. Bridgerton.

The first line of the book reminds Pride & Prejudice: Mrs Stanhope, a well-bred woman, accomplished in that branch of knowledge, which is called the art of rising in the world, had, with but a small fortune, contrived to live in the highest company. Fortunes, matchmaking, social climbing. What’s not to love?

Belinda isn’t labeled as a romance novel, either because 1) it wasn’t done back then or 2) academics don’t generally study romance novels, so if it must be studied it must be labeled something else. Instead, it’s a “female novel of development”  or female “coming-of-age” novel or a courtship novel. Whatever you call it, the genre was well established by then, as you can tell by the hilariously snarky remarks of some of the characters. I shall repeat my favorite excerpt in full, because it’s just delightful, as you shall see, and because one thing you quickly learn in Grad school is that nothing fills a page faster than block quotes. Without further ado:

“You know it is a ruled case, in all romances, that, when a lover and his mistress go out riding together, some adventure must befall them. The horse must run away with the lady, and the gentleman must catch her in his arms just as her neck is about to be broken. If the horse have been too ill trained for the heroine’s purpose, “some footpad, bandit fierce, or mountaineer”, some jealous rival must make his appearance quite unexpectedly at the turn of a road, and the lady must be carried off, robes flying! hair streaming! like Buerger’s Leanora. Then her lover must come to her rescue just in the proper moment. But, if the damsel cannot conveniently be run away with, she must, as the last resource, tumble into a river to maker herself interesting, and the hero must be at least half drowned in dragging her out, that she may be under eternal obligations to him, and at last be forced to marry him out of pure gratitude.”

©2010 Maya Rodale Blog. All Rights Reserved.

All they had to do was put “By the author of Waverly” on his subsequent books for them to be bestsellers. It’s like he was the Nora Roberts of his day.

I had thought that when I decided to read popular fiction, I’d get the fun stuff.  Not that Waverly isn’t fun or interesting, but let’s just say tastes have changed.

The book begins with a brotherly feud before the hero is even born, seemingly to explain why the nephew is the heir to his uncle’s estates. Our hero doesn’t even appear until a few chapters in. We are then treated to an entire chapter on his education. Today we might call this an information dump, but the point is an interesting one–that you can learn a lot about a person by what and how they were taught. He then met a girl on one page, married her on the next, secured his commission and left for Scotland. I’m a hundred+ pages in.

It’s all quite different from today’s romance novels when the hero and heroine meet in the first chapter and long passages of back story are discouraged. Not bad, just different.

There is a lot of description and very little dialogue. It’s more tell, less show. It’s a little slow. And dense–I’m inspired to put the paragraph on my list of favorite inventions. The lack of white space on a page was probably due to the cost of paper at the time, thus making it an economical decision rather than a stylistic one.

As I read, I like to think that this is the  kind of novel Regency heroes and heroines would have been reading.

©2010 Maya Rodale Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Seduce Me At Sunrise by Lisa Kleypas
This one came out months ago and I still have not read it! I’m blaming grad school and the crushing amount of non-romance-novel reading assigned each week.

Mistress Of Pleasure by Delilah Marville
I believe I discovered this new author on the wonderful blog of Elizabeth Boyle. Yet another book that’s been on my TBR pile for a while. A school of seduction, unbridled passion, a duke…damn it, grad school!

Like No Other Lover by Julie Anne Long
I love her books. I remember laughing out loud while reading The Runaway Duke on an airplane. Since then, she’s been on my auto buy list. Now if only her books would be on my class reading list.

The Temptation of The Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig
I could tell you how smart, funny and sweet Lauren’s books are (and the author herself) or you could see for yourself. Read her answers to The Same Six Questions I Always Ask or watch her reading her latest at Lady Jane’s Salon.

©2010 Maya Rodale Blog. All Rights Reserved.

Fantomina by Eliza Haywood

Fantomina is the story of a proper young lady who fancies the attentions of rake called Beauplaisir. Inspired by a woman at the opera who was “one of those who come there for no other purpose, than to create an acquaintance with as many seem desirous of it,” Fantomina disguises herself as such, picks up Beauplaisir and makes a date with him. She rents out a set of rooms as part of her disguise. They embark on a love affair, until he begins to tire of her.

Beauplaisir goes off to Bath and so does she! Fantomina disguises herself as a maid, and gains the attention of her former lover. They embark on a love affair, until Beauplaisir begins to tire of her.

She then disguises herself as a widow, and asks him for a ride back to London. They embark on a love affair, until Beauplaisir begins to tire of her.

She writes him a letter (in feigned handwriting) as a secret admirer, inviting him to visit her. In the dark. She rents a house, staff, etc. He is escorted into a dark chamber, where they make love. They embark on an affair…you see where this is going.

Beauplaisir never figures her out! We are told that our heroine has such a gift for disguise and acting, and that, coupled with the fact that he would never, ever suspect her, is apparently why he makes love to the same woman over and over none the wiser. I think a more plausible excuse would be that once the lights were dimmed and the clothes off, he wasn’t really thinking at all. But I digress…

Eventually, she becomes pregnant and manages to hide her condition from her mother until the birth (where has that woman been all this time!?). Her mother demands to know the father, Fantomina tells her, and Beauplaisir shows up completely confused. When Fantomina confesses all, he’s a little disturbed (um, yeah….). Her mother does not force him to propose because the fault is not his. His offer to care for the child is rebuffed, and off he goes “more confused that he had ever known in her whole life.” Our heroine ends up in a Monastery is France.

Eliza Haywood was one of the first novelists. Her novel Love In Excess was published the same year as Robinson Crusoe, both were tremendously successful. She was an incredibly prolific author, and often grouped with a in a trio of contemporary female authors that one other writer called “the fair triumvirate of wit.” It is unknown when she was born, but she died in 1756.

©2010 Maya Rodale Blog. All Rights Reserved.