Violations of the True Woman in the Coquette In her article "The Cult of True Femininity: 1820-1860", Barbara Welter discusses the nineteenth-century ideal of the perfect woman. She states that “the attributes of true womanhood…could be divided into four cardinal virtues: piety, purity, submission, and domesticity.” Furthermore, she adds that “if anyone, male or female, dared to tamper with the complex virtues that constituted true femininity, they were immediately damned as an enemy of God, civilization, and the Republic” (Welter 152). In The Coquette by Hannah W. Foster, the characters, Major Sanford and Eliza Wharton, violate True Womanhood by condemning them both to a miserable fate. Major Sanford continually violates True Womanhood with his systematic seduction of women. Because of his attacks on female purity, Major Sanford is rejected by society as lacking in virtue. Well aware of this reputation, Mrs. Richman warns Eliza that he is an "avowed libertine" and not to be admitted into "virtuous society" (Foster 20). After meeting him, her friend Lucy Freeman states, “I consider Major Sanford's vicious habits and abandoned character to have more pernicious effects on society than the perpetrations of the thief and murderer” (Foster 63). Major Sanford's licentious past condemns him to a future of lust; there is no chance for him to escape his reputation. Eliza's attacks on True Womanhood are violations of the virtues of submission and purity. When Eliza refuses to ignore Major Sanford's gallantry in favor of Reverend Boyer's advances despite the warnings of her friends and mother, she ignores submission in favor of her own boy... middle of paper... .ind of happiness" (Foster 166) In the end, they are both severely punished for their debasement of the True Woman one might wonder if Eliza actually had any choice in her situation. . . that graces and virtues are no longer often united!" (Foster 22). Although Sanford possessed all the sweetness he desired and Reverend Boyer all the integrity, he could find no companion who possessed both. This lack of options seems to be what truly destroys Eliza it may have been within her power to be a real woman, but due to the social constraints placed on her, it does not seem possible at all for her to have been a happy woman. Works Cited Foster, Hannah W. The Coquette .New York: Oxford UP, 1986. Welter, Barbara "The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860 American Quarterly".. 18 (1966). 151-74.