April 4, 2018

Brighton, Massachusetts.

My esteemed and dear Mrs. Foster:This morning, as the train passes Sofia, Bulgaria, the views from the dining car are spectacular. The sun, so magnificently radiant, lightly touches the golden domes of St. Sofia’s Church, turning them into perfectly set soufflés. Sadly, the empty cemetery east of the cathedral brings to mind how alone and unloved Eliza was at the end. To return to our previous discourse on The Coquette and your point of view in the novel, it appears literary critic Daniel Diez-Couch (2014) believes the heavy-handed tactics used by Eliza Wharton’s so-called friends was to share a lesson with women of the period (p. 683-684). These tactics included the inscription on her tombstone which read:This humble stone, in memory of ELIZABETH WHITMAN,Is inscribed by her weeping friends,To whom she endeared herself. By uncommon tenderness and affection.Endowed with superior genius and accomplishments, She was still more distinguished by humility and benevolence. Let Candor throw a veil over her frailties,For great was her charity to others.She lived an example of calm resignation, And sustained the last painful scene,Far from every friend.Her departure was on the 25th of July, A.D. 1788.
19 In the 37th year of her age;The tears of strangers watered her grave. (as cited in Diez-Couch, 2014, p. 683)