Charlotte Lennox (1730–1804)
Author of The Female Quixote
About the Author
Image credit: Courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery (image use requires permission from the New York Public Library)
Works by Charlotte Lennox
The Female Quixote Volume I 1 copy
Associated Works
Poems Between Women: Four Centuries of Love, Romantic Friendship, and Desire (1997) — Contributor — 96 copies, 1 review
Old city manners : a comedy — Reviser — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Lennox, Charlotte
- Legal name
- Ramsay, Charlotte (born)
- Other names
- Ramsay, Charlotte (birth name)
- Birthdate
- 1730
- Date of death
- 1804-01-04
- Gender
- female
- Occupations
- author
poet
novelist
translator
governess
playwright - Relationships
- Johnson, Samuel (friend)
Richardson, Samuel (friend) - Short biography
- Charlotte Lennox, née Ramsay (she was christened Barbara), is most famous as the author of The Female Quixote (1752) and for her long association with Samuel Johnson, Joshua Reynolds, and Samuel Richardson. Very little is known about her early life. She was the daughter of a Scottish-born British officer, James Ramsey, who may have served as Lieutenant-Governor of New York, though she was probably born in Gibraltar. She lived in New York for several years, and after her father’s death around 1743, travelled to England. She may have tried acting before taking up writing to support herself. She published her first collection of verse, Poems on Several Occasions, in 1747 and that same year, married Alexander Lennox, with whom she had two children, though the marriage was unhappy. Her first novel, The Life of Harriot Stuart, appeared in 1749. The Female Quixote, published in 1752, made her one of the most popular and influential novelists of her era. She edited The Lady’s Museum magazine, and produced the first comparative study of William Shakespeare's source material, called Shakespear Illustrated (1753–54), a project in which Dr. Johnson may have assisted. Her play Old City Manners (1775), an adaptation of Ben Jonson's Eastwood Ho!, was produced by David Garrick and successfully performed at the Theatre Royal. Despite her literary fame, Charlotte Lennox earned very little from the sale of her books, and died impoverished.
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Gibraltar
- Places of residence
- Gibraltar
London, England, UK
New York, New York, USA - Place of death
- London, England, UK
- Burial location
- Broad Court Cemetery, London, England, UK
- Associated Place (for map)
- London, England, UK
Members
Discussions
Group Read, September 2013: The Female Quixote in 1001 Books to read before you die (September 2013)
Reviews
Charlotte Lennox (1729-1804) was one of Jane Austen’s earliest influences. Unlike most other women writers of the period, Lennox had to earn her own living, and after getting her start with poetry turned to writing novels. The Female Quixote, her second, both satirized the popular chivalric romances of the era, and presented a strong female protagonist who knew her mind and could hold her own in fierce debate.
Arabella had an extremely sheltered childhood, and after her father’s death show more was taken into her uncle’s guardianship. His son, Glanville, stood to inherit by marrying Arabella, and preferred courting her to forcing what was essentially an arranged marriage. Meanwhile, Arabella enters society at the age of 17, extremely naive but over-confident. She spent considerable time reading chivalric romances, which she believed to be accurate historical accounts and routinely cited these sources when discussing current affairs. Despite her strange behavior, Glanville was quite taken with Arabella, and she develops affection for him, too. But of course events conspire against their courtship, including the arrival of Sir George, a young rake who feigns courtship with Glanville’s sister in order to get closer to Arabella. Arabella is eventually made to understand truth vs. fiction, and like most romance novels, everything turns out all right in the end albeit with an ending that is rushed and not very satisfying.
Lennox’s writing is very witty, with frequent asides to the reader acknowledging how ridiculous Arabella is. In her book, Jane Austen’s Bookshelf, Rebecca Romney points out how Arabella’s obsession with the romance genre mirrors that of Catherine in Northanger Abbey. She also acknowledged The Female Quixote’s abrupt conclusion, noting that Lennox would have preferred to write an additional third volume but was under time pressure from her publisher; the need for income won out. show less
Arabella had an extremely sheltered childhood, and after her father’s death show more was taken into her uncle’s guardianship. His son, Glanville, stood to inherit by marrying Arabella, and preferred courting her to forcing what was essentially an arranged marriage. Meanwhile, Arabella enters society at the age of 17, extremely naive but over-confident. She spent considerable time reading chivalric romances, which she believed to be accurate historical accounts and routinely cited these sources when discussing current affairs. Despite her strange behavior, Glanville was quite taken with Arabella, and she develops affection for him, too. But of course events conspire against their courtship, including the arrival of Sir George, a young rake who feigns courtship with Glanville’s sister in order to get closer to Arabella. Arabella is eventually made to understand truth vs. fiction, and like most romance novels, everything turns out all right in the end albeit with an ending that is rushed and not very satisfying.
Lennox’s writing is very witty, with frequent asides to the reader acknowledging how ridiculous Arabella is. In her book, Jane Austen’s Bookshelf, Rebecca Romney points out how Arabella’s obsession with the romance genre mirrors that of Catherine in Northanger Abbey. She also acknowledged The Female Quixote’s abrupt conclusion, noting that Lennox would have preferred to write an additional third volume but was under time pressure from her publisher; the need for income won out. show less
This novel was written in the 1750s and is a satire of Don Quixote. The main character, Arabella, is a beautiful, charming, wealthy woman who unfortunately grows up very isolated and therefore reads too many French historical romances about ancient Greece and Rome which she believes in completely. This leads to many humorous situations as she is courted by her cousin who her father intends for her to marry. I really enjoyed the first third of the book, but after a while the humor started to show more be the same over and over and got a little old. All the men in the book think she's crazy but don't care because she's beautiful and wealthy. I think this is worth reading, especially as an example of women writing in the 1700s. It's genuinely funny and entertaining. It was also obviously an example to Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, a book I love. show less
This is a highly amusing and clever book, a clear jab at the inadequacy of female education in the author's time (18th century) but it is hard going in places. Arabella grows up in her father's remote castle and reads nothing but popular French romantic novels. It is a poor substitute for an education and this becomes obvious when her father dies and she must deal with real life decisions. Amusing, but still Arabella is a very tiresome character ...
For its time, this is a pretty readable and engaging bit of writing that isn’t overlong and makes clever use of wry humour as it takes a dig at romance novels and their effect on particularly feminine fantasies. It’s kind of like an 18th century version of Cold Comfort Farm.
Arabella is the protagonist who falls under the spell of the masses of romantic literature she plunders from her father’s library. In this, Lennox was parodying the spell that Don Quixote falls under from books of show more chivalry that turn his brain.
For me, the ludicrous situations that Arabella ends up in as a result of her delusions were as humorous as that of the Don. Through this, Lennox is also able to comment on the influence of literature, just as Cervantes was able to comment on the social mores of his day.
For this, Lennox deserves (and received at the time) great credit, particularly as the 18th century wasn’t the easiest period of literary history for a woman to get herself published.
The plot is well complicated by the fact that, on his deathbed, Arabella’s father insists that the only way to come into her full inheritance is to marry her stable, well balanced and affectionate cousin Glanville. However, his normality is a far cry from her fantasies and this provides for many of the crises throughout the novel.
It all ends reasonably enough though with Arabella regaining her senses and predictably marrying her suitor, but it’s a fairly engaging ride along the way. show less
Arabella is the protagonist who falls under the spell of the masses of romantic literature she plunders from her father’s library. In this, Lennox was parodying the spell that Don Quixote falls under from books of show more chivalry that turn his brain.
For me, the ludicrous situations that Arabella ends up in as a result of her delusions were as humorous as that of the Don. Through this, Lennox is also able to comment on the influence of literature, just as Cervantes was able to comment on the social mores of his day.
For this, Lennox deserves (and received at the time) great credit, particularly as the 18th century wasn’t the easiest period of literary history for a woman to get herself published.
The plot is well complicated by the fact that, on his deathbed, Arabella’s father insists that the only way to come into her full inheritance is to marry her stable, well balanced and affectionate cousin Glanville. However, his normality is a far cry from her fantasies and this provides for many of the crises throughout the novel.
It all ends reasonably enough though with Arabella regaining her senses and predictably marrying her suitor, but it’s a fairly engaging ride along the way. show less
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- Rating
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