During a social event at the Richmans' New Haven home, Mrs. Richman makes a speech in which she argues that women should involve themselves in the politics and affairs of the young American republic, saying that
If the community flourish and enjoy health and freedom, shall we not share in the happy effects? if it be oppressed and disturbed, shall we not endure our proportion of the evil? Why then should the love of our country be a masculine passion only?
Appealing to the reader's sense of reason, this speech is an example of logos. On the sentence level, Mrs. Richman's use of logical statements—her assertions that "health and freedom" in the community will benefit women, while unrest or conflict will harm them—shows that she is making a rational argument. This is a striking mode of speech in a patriarchal society that expects men to act according to reason and women to be ruled by their emotions. Notably, Mrs. Richman doesn't actually challenge the idea that being attuned to emotional matters makes people unfit for public life; rather, she is petitioning to be included in government on the basis of her ability to think and talk in what her society considers to be a masculine manner.
While Mrs. Richman doesn't explicitly reference America's founding ideals of equality and justice, she tacitly references them by arguing that every member of the young "community" has a right to be involved in its government. This passage reflects the extent to which characters in this novel would have defined themselves through their citizenship in a new country that claimed to be radically different than its European peers; likewise, it suggests that new ideas of democracy have the power to change everyday relationships between men and women.
At the same time, this well-reasoned speech tacitly highlights how early America's treatment of women belies its fundamental ideals. While Mrs. Richman outlines a utopian view of women's participation in politics, the men humoring her are absolutely unwilling to live out those ideals, and expect their wives and daughters to concern themselves only with their family and reputation. It's also worth noting that Mrs. Richman has the latitude to express these subversive ideas because of her status as a wealthy, white woman. At the time The Coquette was published, large swathes of Americans lacked the right to vote, including enslaved people, Native Americans, and most white men who didn't own property. While Mrs. Richman's speech isn't very threatening to the men around her, demands from other marginalized groups to participate in public life were often met with repression and violence.
