Sophia

by Charlotte Lennox, Norbert Schurer (Editor)

The first novel to be written for serial publication by a major female author, Sophia follows the story of two siblings, the virtuous and well-read eponymous heroine and her flighty and coquettish sister. While the latter leads a vapid life in the fashionable world of London, the former flees from a potential seducer to the country, where she pursues true friendship, learning, and an independent living. Previously out of print, the novel explores such issues as the place of female education, the opposition of city and country, the emergence of the literary marketplace, and the development of the individual.

This Broadview edition reproduces images from the novel’s original serial publication and also includes other articles from Lennox’s periodical The Lady’s Museum, contemporary reviews of Sophia, and writings on sentimentalism.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, 18th Century, Romance, Womens, Novels

266 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1762

About the author

Charlotte Ramsay Lennox (born: c. 1730) was a British author and poet of the 18th century. She is most famous now as the author of The Female Quixote and for her association with Samuel Johnson, Joshua Reynolds, and Samuel Richardson, but she had a long career and wrote poetry, prose, and drama.

Reviews

[joanna · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was so bad lol. I had to read it for a class on 18th and 19th century literature and reading this after reading Austen was like expecting a milkshake but getting a glass of tomato juice. It was so, so bad. The archetypal characters were used only to show very overtly religious views and very gender-based conventions. The main character was judgmental and manipulative. Her mother and sister were just as bad and don’t even get me started on her “father figure”!

Also, I get that people were bound by conventions but like speak??? to each other. Communication is key and there was none of that in this book. Literally I don’t think there was any real conversations between Sir Charles and Sophia.

I hated Sir Charles must of all. You don’t just go through a girl’s room man. Not cool.

Do not read this book.

I still haven’t figured out why my professor included this on our reading list.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charlotte Lennox invents the serial novel, and it is nothing like I expected. Sophia feels more like a instructional tale: a series of life lessons in narrative form. Although, it manages some subversion on the seams. It is definitely a text that is better studied than read for entertainment today. That said, much like Henrietta, it is incredibly interesting as a precursor to Jane Austen and as an early example of the English novel.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting take on 18th century British feminism. Although moralistic, I enjoyed the lecturing. And Sir Charles is a babe, even if he was a rake.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the most straightforward of Lennox's novels, but I rather love it's conventional-ness.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sophia cries so much. It was exhausting.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lennox should have retitled this book Shitty People. I hate all of the central characters.

[Denise Lauron · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this for a class in school. I struggled through the whole thing and never related to the characters.

I know that this novel was originally published as a series in a woman's magazine. The magazine went belly-up right after the last installment of the series was published, and I think that you can tell that Lennox knew this was going to happen, since the last few chapters felt rushed. It was like she needed to tie up loose ends and end the series, even though it wasn't a satisfying ending.

Don't read it if you don't need to.

[Adam Stevenson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected my introduction to Charlotte Lennox to be through the copy of ‘The Female Quixote’ that has been sitting on my bookshelf the last few years but I received this for Christmas and started it instead. This book was written ten years after she was given a grand book launch part by The Club and was crowned with bays by Samuel Johnson. It was serialised in her ‘Lady’s Museum’ periodical and is the second serialised English novel and the first by a woman.

Harriot and Sophia are the daughter’s of a dead bankrupt who live with their mother on a small pension. Harriot is shallow, affected and vain whereas Sophia is well-read, kind and witty. The dilemmas start when the rich, handsome, yet attachment-wary Sir Charles is introduced to them - who will he like? Will he have the decency to make an honest woman of his choice?

From then we are given the usual run of misunderstandings, plots and schemes which serve to keep the virtuous Sophia away from her destined husband. It was one of those plots which could have been sorted out with ten minutes of clear and serious conversation, that such plots so frequently happen in fiction says a lot to the human powers of obfuscation.

If the plot is functional, so is the writing. While there is a balance of reported and direct speech, we are so often told that Sophia is witty but never get to see it for ourselves. Whenever her speech is reported, she is generally being kind, thoughtful or scolding. The people are largely described in terms of their actions and we are often then told what those actions signified and how the other characters read those signals.

I originally wrote that this would be a completely by-the-numbers 18th Century romantic tale if it wasn’t for the little bits of personality that shine out of the cracks in the rather bland format but in looking at these moments, most of them are really quite cruel.

She clearly hates the character of Harriot and people of that kind, making frequent tart comments about how well she fools herself into thinking other people are falling in love with her. At one point the narrator notes that; “Vanity is extremely ingenious at securing gratifications for itself.” In the happy ending of the book, she gives a truly horrible conclusion to Harriot’s tale. The man ‘keeping’ her grows weary and kicks her out, she gets sick, loses her looks and is paired off with an army Captain who takes her to another country where they hate each other and she is kept under house arrest till she dies. I can’t say I liked the character, but she was punished unduly by the fiction gods.

Indeed, nearly all the women are held to higher account than the men in this book. Men, like Sir Charles, are allowed to be wavering in their commitment, whereas all of the women have to be absolutely good (and seen to be good) at all times. It’s like each woman has to represent the best of womanhood whereas each man is allowed to go his own way. Other female characters who fail to represent womanhood are Miss Gibbons, a ridiculous old spinster who confuses politeness and fussiness; and Mrs Howard, who claims great generosity but doesn’t give it. Not even Mrs Darnley, the matriarch of the kind family who look after Sophia after she had fled Sir Charles, passes the test. Despite her family being represented as saints, she is described as being too quick to laugh and too ‘country’ in her manners.

The only spotless women are Sophia and her best friend Dolly. There are a few chapters where they gossip and joke with each other, and these are some of the best parts of the book. The speech may sound a little affected to modern ears bit the tone really is of a pair of good friends having private chats about boys.

I enjoyed the book while reading it, there’s nothing that stops the flow of the narrative and the way the characters think and act do seem drawn from life and very realistic, but it was only in looking back that I can see how exacting the standard Charlotte Lennox sets for women compared with that for men. The book doesn’t go to the ludicrous extremes of an Elizabeth Haywood, nor does it have the intricate set pieces in ‘Evelina; and is left a little stranded. One day I shall crack open my ‘The Female Quixote’ and give Lennox another try, but not for a bit.

[Susan Carlile · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of a thoughtful young woman in mid-1700s London who loves reading, drawing, and pondering the important things in life. Her challnge: to figure out who to trust and why. Her mother and sister are obviously not good candidates, but who is?

[togi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining

[Isabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5

[Eli☁️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

an 18th century pick-me girl fantasy
(I liked it)

[Eliza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did not like this novel as much, though it has become more attractive since I have started studying it. If you just read it as fiction for fun it is a bit dry and a bit too heavy on the moral message.