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Letter 42
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Coquette, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Women and Society
Sex and Virtue
Marriage and Social Mobility
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
Mrs. Richman writes to Eliza and offers her condolences regarding Eliza’s separation from Reverend Boyer. “I had long contemplated a happy union between you,” writes Mrs. Richman. While she is saddened by these recent events, Mrs. Richman is most disappointed to hear that Eliza has suffered lately from depression and resigned herself to “solitude and dejection.”
The fact that Eliza has resigned herself to “solitude and dejection” is evidence of the severity of her depression, and likely her failing health in general. Eliza’s greatest joys in life are her friends and social engagements, and she no longer has the desire to partake in these activities.
Themes
Mrs. Richman goes on to talk about her family. “All my happiness is centered within the limits of my own walls,” she says, “and I grudge every moment that call from the pleasing scenes of domestic life.” Mrs. Richman does not mean to neglect her friends—she even invites Eliza for another visit—but “conjugal and parental love are the main springs of [her] life.”
