The Coquette is set in Connecticut during the period following the Revolutionary War, when the United States achieved independence from Great Britain. The action moves between New Haven, where the Richmans live, and Hartford, Eliza's home; the story also includes trips to the larger city of Boston, where Eliza's friend Lucy lives after getting married. Originally published in 1797, the novel was likely based on the real-life story of Elizabeth Whitman, a wealthy Connecticut woman who died after giving birth to an illegitimate child in 1788.
The novel's content and themes reflect the questions facing Americans in the immediate aftermath of independence. Mrs. Richman's speech in favor of women involving themselves in public affairs invokes a sincere belief in the democratic ideals articulated by the United States's founding fathers, as well as optimism that even groups excluded from government (like women) could benefit from these new values. At the same time, the novel's depiction of the double standards applied to women's behavior, and Eliza's dependence on the men around her, suggests a more cynical view of opportunities for women in the young nation.
Another important aspect of the post-Revolutionary period is the strict social hierarchy that governs Eliza's life, despite the democratic ideals newly enshrined in the Constitution. Eliza is part of her society's elite, and only associates with people of equal or greater status. No one in the novel appears to work for a living except Boyer, who has a relatively high-status job as a pastor. The servants on whom families like Eliza's would have depended are barely mentioned, which shows the extent to which social status shapes the characters' perceptions. In this sense, the American upper classes are much like the highly stratified English gentry from whom they had just asserted independence.
