Simply following her Only Instructions

Just to clarify for further reading of this particular post, I bought my copy of The Female Quixote used. I love getting used books not only because it saves me money, but also because I love getting to read the notes that were put in there by the people who previously owned it. I think it is interesting to get to see what others have seen and things that caught their fancy, and also to see what they are thinking about the book itself and the characters within. This time however, I was a little shocked about the two notes that kept popping up in the first part of the book (and throughout the rest… I checked out of curiosity): ‘arrogant’ and ‘no common sense’.

This insight simply rubbed me the wrong way. Do we really think that Charlotte Lennox intended for us to see Arabella as arrogant and that she has no common sense? I suppose when you look at Arabella’s actions purely on the surface that may seem to be the case, especially in the first book when you see her ‘interactions’ with the handsome young man from church. The previous owner of my copy of The Female Quixote seemed utterly appalled and even ranted when Arabella informed the young man that she did not want him to die but to live, and therefore should feel much better. I cannot see Arabella’s actions as arrogant though. And though she does lack common sense when it comes to social interactions, it has nothing to do with arrogance or a disregard for the things she has learned and/or seen.

I think it is important for a reader to consider these things. Arabella has been raised by her reclusive father all her life. Her governesses, the only older women who could have had any real impact on her, were sent away when she was only 4 years old. Once in a blue moon she has the chance to go to the nearest village and go to church, accompanied by her ‘ladies in waiting’. And her social skills? They have all been gleaned from her mother’s French romances. Since she has never been instructed otherwise, who is to say that is not the appropriate way to behave? There are tons of these books written, all with the lovely heroine behaving in the same manner. Each has become her personal bible of how to present herself, speak, manners, courting, everything. She is doing a fantastic job following her personal bibles to the ‘T’.

Now taking those things into consideration, can you really see Arabella as arrogant? And can you really hold it against her that she has none of what we would consider common sense when it comes to social interactions? Imagine what she would be like if all she read was the bible. Or maybe all she read was science books. What if she never even became interested in devouring the books she would find in her father’s library? She has found her own instruction manual and done her best to uphold what she has learned from them.