The Brief but Important Role of the Countess in "The Female Quixote"

One of the more frequently discussed characters presented by Charlotte Lennox in her novel The Female Quixote is the benevolent Countess who appears only in chapters V - VII of book VIII.  The brevity of the Countess' appearance in the text is certainly a primary reason for the critical debate surrounding her character.  But, surely Lennox has a rationale in how she used this mysterious figure?  The fun is in figuring out just what that rationale is.

Our first clue in determining Lennox's intentions concerning the Countess is the description of the character herself. We are told that the Countess is without peer in her sex when it comes to matters of wit, elegance and "Ease" as well as having great sweetness, modesty and benevolence (322-3).  In fact, the attributes of the Countess as described in Chapter V, are very similar to those credited to Arabella throughout the text.  What makes this connection even stronger, is that the Countess "when she was very young, had been deep read in Romances; and but for an early Acquaintance with the World, and being directed to other Studies, was likely to have been as much a Heroine as Lady Bella" (323).  The congruity between Arabella's character and that of the Countess is important. Lennox tells us why when she states that if it were not for the Countess having been made acquainted with the world early, the Lady would have been just like Arabella.  This is one of the key ideas of the novel, that fact that Arabella's lack of contact with 'normal' reality during her formative years combined with the dubious matter in which she was so deeply read was the cause of her ridiculous notions and behavior.  By showing us that a woman, who in her youth was so much like Arabella, was able to grow past the pollution of her mind caused by the French Romances, Lennox injects hope into the story just prior to the climax, hope that Arabella can be redeemed, and if so she can be a Lady equally as great as the Countess. 

Aside from providing a model for hope, the Countess serves another important purpose.  Arabella's mental derangement could never be cured without some other foundation to supplant the false ideas provided by the Romances.  The Countess sows the seeds for this new foundation.  She uses the same sort of logic that Lady Bella does in her arguments supporting the truth in what she has read in the Romances to reveal to the younger woman that reality in the present day is much different than that of ancient times.  Although the Countess is not allowed to remain with Arabella for very long, it is quite likely that her words would have still remained in her mind considering how much Bella was impressed by the Countess.  But, then why was the Countess not allowed by the author to complete the transformation?

The most plausible answer to why Lennox did not keep the Countess in the story long enough to effect Arabella's cure is  twofold. 

First, The Female Quixote was so named because of the author's intent, at least in part, is to provide a feminine parallel to Cervantes' well known tale, Don Quixote.  At the conclusion of the first book of Cervantes' classic story, Don is cured of his delusions by the logical arguments of a monk. Clearly, Lennox felt that in order to properly parallel Don Quixote her heroine must be cured of her mental follies in a similar fashion.  Thus, the Divine had to fulfill the roll of healer, instead of the Countess, even though having the woman cure a younger version of herself seems more poetic, and certainly would make the story a more feminist text.  As it is, the cure being accomplished by a man rather than a woman likely makes the novel more palpable to male readers.

The other half of the answer of why the Divine was chosen to act as redeemer is quite possibly tied to religion.  Even during The Enlightenment, British society was very religious, which is apparent from such texts as Hudibras and others. So it is quite plausible that Lennox was giving a nod to the healing power attributed to Christ and his disciples in the form of the Christian clergy.  In this light, the Divine represents not only a learned man of reason, he represents the redemptive and healing power of God that was still widely believed in.  If the author had written the story such that the Countess helped Arabella to a cure, then all of the traditional religious dogma that was still very prevalent her time would have been overturned.  Certainly if Lennox had gone against tradition in this way it would have provided a strong feminist statement, but the time for such challenging of the Patriarchal hegemony had not yet come, though it was on the horizon.

If written today, the story of The Female Quixote would likely be much different.  The Countess would almost certainly have reappeared and saved Arabella in the end, and as likely as not the Divine would have first faltered in his attempts and perhaps even been exposed as a fraud just prior to the Countess reappearing.  This is the sort of scenario which plays out frequently in modern novels, valorizing women while at the same time undermining patriarchal tradition and intuitions.  However, in 18th century society women had to tread lightly on the toes of the patriarchy if they hoped to have a future in writing.  Thus, though the Countess plays an important, albeit short lived, role in the story, she could not be the final savior if the book was to be successful.  Which leads me to wonder if this was not in fact some thing that her male mentors pointed out while Lennox was working out the details of the novel with them.  If you know or find an answer to this, let us know!