The Power of Sympathy and The Coquette

by William Hill Brown, Hannah Webster Foster

Written in epistolary form and drawn from actual events, Brown’s The Power of Sympathy (1789) and Foster’s The Coquette (1797) were two of the earliest novels published in the United States. Both novels reflect the eighteenth-century preoccupation with the role of women as safekeepers of the young country’s morality.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, American, 18th Century, Literature, Read For School, Novels

352 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

William Hill Brown was an American novelist, the author of what is usually considered the first American novel, The Power of Sympathy (1789) and "Harriot, Or The Domestick Reconciliation" as well as the serial essay "The Reformer" published in Isaiah Thomas' Massachusetts Magazine. In both, Brown proves an extensive knowledge of European literature for example of Clarissa by Samuel Richardson but tries to lift the American literature from the British corpus by the choice of an American setting.

Reviews

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This marks my having finished The Power of Sympathy, but no having read The Coquette. We read this for Colonial American Literature, and my professor came into class excited to lecture about this book and about (the television version of) "Gossip Girl"--most specifically the scandal surrounding "Gossip Girl"'s threesome in a recent episode. It was actually a really great way to connect the two, as the books mentioned in the novel function much in the same way parents' groups claim "Gossip Girl" to as a television show. I also just loved the epistolary format and the hilarity regarding their attitudes on girls and reading. And the drama! Oh, the hazards of love.

[Shea Greene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only read The Power of Sympathy since it was a required read for school. Really enjoyed the format of the story because it was characters exchanging letters to each other. Will come back and read The Coquette soon.

[Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read it for "The Coquette." Chuck "The Power of Sympathy."

"The Power of Sympathy" was utterly tedious. It is basically a moralistic lecture thinly disguised as an epistolary novel. The characters, who are barely differentiated, wax poetic at length about how literature read for pleasure can corrupt young girls and how they should take care to only read things that will contribute to their moral growth. This is clearly the author's voice coming through, and this "novel" seems a transparent attempt to get his pedantic lectures to appeal to youth. I have no idea whether this weak attempt at literature was appealing then, but it certainly is not now. I will give it this, though: it did have a surprise twist that I did not see coming, but that twist was the only interesting part of the story.

"The Coquette," on the other hand, was a quick-paced and entertaining read. The main character, Eliza, was surprisingly complex and relateable, which made the story feel rather subversive, perhaps more so than intended by the author. Eliza expresses strident criticism of the institution of marriage and sets her intention to play the field for as long as she can to avoid the dull future that marriage ensures. This sets the tension for the story as she tries to balance her own desires against societal expectations and her sense of duty. But what makes the story especially interesting is that it is not just a woman's conflict against society; she is also at conflict with herself, torn between her rational mind and her emotional mind, between instant gratification and long-term outcomes. I think many a modern person can relate to her feeling torn between the decent yet dull man she knows to be the better match and the more exciting man whom she knows is the inferior choice but who responds to a more primal longing. Eliza is also an excellent representation of how one can deceive oneself when viewing a person through the lens of infatuation. So while the time period and courtship rituals contained in this novel are long past, the content is still completely relevant today.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

These two early American novels are more interesting for what they represent (in terms of literary history) than for what they actually achieve (as works of literature). Both are unashamedly didactic, with The Coquette taking a slightly more subtle approach than the megaphone moralizing of The Power of Sympathy, and both opt for a straightforward plot, although Brown does add one minor and one very major twist to his characters' pathetic-tragic path. The style of both novels is stilted even by eighteenth-century standards, and neither does much with the potential for psychological insight offered by the epistolary form: Foster's Eliza is a fairly complex character, although not a particularly likeable one, which works against rather than for the moral and sentimental success of her narrative, I felt. We are quite some way from the standard of Clarissa and Tom Jones here. For me, though, it is in the way that they are attempting to use British forms to address American concerns that most of the interest of these two books lies, clearly and thoroughly laid out by Carla Mulford in her excellent introduction to this volume, thereby earning it an extra star.

[Brian Hutzell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here are two early American novels: William Hill Brown’s The Power of Sympathy (1789) and Hannah Webster Foster’s The Coquette. Neither is on par with the literature coming out of Europe at that time, but both are fascinating as records of what Americans were reading in the early days of the nation. Both are epistolary novels, told entirely through letters. (This is not my favorite literary gimmick, but as Samuel Richardson’s monumental Clarissa, another epistolary novel, is on my “To Read” shelf, I guess I’d better get used to it!) Of the two, I much preferred The Coquette. With The Power of Sympathy, I never got a real sense of the characters from their letters.

Next, I’m continuing my dive into American literature from this period with the slightly later Hope Leslie by Catharine Maria Sedgwick.

[Jack Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Coquette is an awesome example of early American literature which is acutely feminist. Despite brief moments of overwhelming moralizing, the prose remains beautiful. And these moments of moralizing contribute much to understanding the work in its place. The twentieth letter in which Eliza Wharton writes to her mother is astonishing, and made me realize how rarely I read scenes of tenderness between mothers and daughters in literature.

[TopBob · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this for The Power of Sympathy*
The narrative is dry and slow if not completely halted at times. The themes and ideas are presented bluntly. The story itself is occasionally bad instead of slow but in a sort of "so bad its good" sort of way. Not impossibly boring, it's pretty short, but I wouldn't wish this on anyone. Leave it to the American literature nerds to suffer through.

[bianca silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the coquette in January. Read power of sympathy in April. The coquette is easily, far better: 3.5/5 stars. Power of sympathy gets 2 stars.

Thank you Hannah Foster for “marriage is the tom of friendship” and “Heaven seldom leaves injured innocence unavenged!”

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me until a second reading to twig that The Power of Sympathy is anti-victim blaming. The Coquette was just awesome from the very first read.

[Morgan Hamernik · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for ENGL 3005W (only The Power of Sympathy)

Loved the drama but it was kind of a drag

[Ben Ketterer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny

[Lori Gideon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Only read The Power of Sympathy. Unenticing story of seduction, adultery, suicide, and unwed mothers.

[Anna Wolverton · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book is ridiculous and one of the worst things i've ever read but also hilarious? i don't know. it's a mess and terrible but also fabulous.

[Sean Hadley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Power of Sympathy (2023.01.08)

[Rosalind · Rating 3 out of 5]

American fiction #2

Originally published in 1789

American significance: this is considered the first American novel - written by someone born in what was then the Massachusetts Colony and published in the now independent American state of Massachusetts just two months before the Constitution was ratified and effected March 4, 1789.
Like many novels of the day, it is meant to be a didactic, moralizing work for the purpose of teaching women the dangers of seduction and falling prey to passion.

[Jane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh my goodness! This book (The Power of Sympathy)is a series of letters from young man to young woman, dowager to maid, other young man to other young woman...back and forth...on and on...each letter unraveling the story and adding to the suspense...it is a classic...very different reading from modern novels. But it is fun and has a surprise ending. Again, a required book for a BYU lit. class I'm taking. Ergo...that's why I read it.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Coquette is a really fascinating seduction narrative with a witty and complexly-drawn protagonist. Although it has a lot of the same predictable features that other texts of this genre have, I think Eliza is much more interesting and more sympathetic than some of her seduced sisters (although my students categorically disliked her). The epistolary style keeps the text moving and gives you a number of different insights into the culture of the period.

[Olivia Cornwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

THE COQUETTE:
I liked this book, and at the same time it is, I believe, one of the most depressing stories I have ever read. I liked it in that the story was told through letters between the characters, relating the events to one another. While I enjoyed the format the story took, the story itself was depressing.

[Marlena Noland · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times, it's themes are welcome and true, and then they get misogynistic. However, it is a welcome read in a rape culture that blames its victims rather than evil individuals who ruin. It also highlights that teaching women to avoid rape rather than teaching men not to rape is a 200-year-old idea. Other than Its early American ideals, it's a very compelling, yet depressing read.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Intended to represent the specious causes, and to Expose the fatal CONSEQUENCES, of SEDUCTION; To inspire the Female Mind With a Principle of Self Complacency, and to Promote the Economy of Human Life"

[Jamie Flower · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read these two early American novels, as well as The Last of The Mohicans for American literature classes. The experience of reading these has lead me to believe that American novelists before Hawthorne wrote nothing but tedious melodramatic tripe.

[Corrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two of the "first" American novels--seduction, flirting gone awry, possible incest, basically these are classic eighteenth-century goodies (but in much shorter and digestible versions than the novels coming from across the pond).

[Andrew Pisano · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Rise of Silas Lapham

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Classic sentimental/conduct epistolary fiction, including the first American novel ever (Brown's).

[Kristin]

Nach 20 Seiten abgebrochen. Ich darf das zwar als Anglistik-Studentin eigentlich nicht sagen, aber ich hasse geschwollene Sprache.

[Cody · Rating 2 out of 5]

"No man can read 50 boring EPISTOLARIES about some DOMESTIC STUFF in oldtimey TEXT" - ben frnaklin in he was in Cool hand luke

[Adrienne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dated, but interesting as one of the first American novels.

[Kati Karloff · Rating 1 out of 5]

Epistolary warnings against the vices of loosing one's virginity.

[Rebekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first American novel, written in America, by an American, about Americans. Fittingly, it is all about sex, incest, illegitimate children and scandal!

[Nahomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea so to speak the writing was good