Tracing Female Quixotism from a Gendered Stereotype into a Heroine: Lady Errants and Quixotes in Petticoats

Although The Female Quixote (1752) is widely regarded as a cornerstone of quixotism studies, a retrospective analysis of Arabella’s antecedents is crucial to understanding its evolution until the end of the eighteenth century. Dating back to the first quarter of the seventeenth century, female quixotism, as a topos, was considered and employed as a means of laughter and a light-hearted subject for the readers. The first examples of women quixotes were identified with the habit of excessive romance reading Don Quixote had originated. Early poetic depictions, such as Thomas Overbury’s Characters (1615) and Wye Saltonstall’s Picturæ Loquentes (1635), feature maids aspiring to be lady-errants. Later, William Cartwright’s The Lady-Errant (1651) and Richard Steele’s The Tender Husband (1705) reinforce comic stereotypes, emphasizing absurd expectations and linguistic misunderstandings. Until Lennox’s Arabella as “the” female quixote, these pioneering characters function as the preliminary elements defining the contours of the stock type, soon be a character. Within the context of the development of a character that peaked in the eighteenth century, this study aims to trace back this progress to study the cultural and literary evolution that enabled the birth of a heroine. It offers a comprehensive insight into how a conventional stock type evolved into more complex female characters, ultimately leading to the development of more multifaceted and unconventional heroines.