Eliza Wharton\u27s downfall in Hannah Webster Foster\u27s The Coquette is most commonly reduced to her position as a young woman without agency in the 18th century. Eliza\u27s death is comfortable in the public eye, as it is seemingly a result of her behaviors as a coquette. This paper challenges that idea and presents evidence that Eliza\u27s lack of a support system, lack of worldly knowledge, flighty nature, and title as a coquette not only infantilize her but lead to her demise
