In what ways does Arabella fit the mold outlined in The Rambler of a protagonist that youth would choose to model their behaviors after? Is she a good choice?

 Quote 1: “Many writers, for the sake of following nature, so mingle good and bad qualities in their principal personages, that they are both equally conspicuous; and as we accompany them through their adventures with delight, and are led by degrees to interest ourselves in their favour, we lose the abhorrence of their faults, because they do not hinder our pleasure, or, perhaps, regard them with some kindness for being united with so much merit (Johnson 3).

Quote 2: “Every thing furnished Matter for some new Extravagance; her Character was so ridiculous, that he could propose nothing to himself but eternal Shame and Disquiet, in the Possession of a Woman, for whom he must always blush, and be in Pain. But her Beauty had made a deep Impression on his Heart: He admired the Strength of her Understanding; her lively Wit; the Sweetness of her Temper; and a Thousand amiable Qualities which distinguished her from the rest of her Sex: Her Follies, when opposed to all those Charms of Mind and Person, seemed inconsiderable and weak; and, though they were capable of giving him great Uneasiness, yet they could not lessen a Passion which every Sight of her so much the more confirmed. (Lennox 117).

Throughout The Rambler, the reader takes away why and how young audiences relate to, condone, and reflect in their personal lives the actions of protagonists that typically have major flaws in character and morality. Johnson asserts that young audiences are looking for guidance and use novels to shape how they may ultimately choose to live. He also explains, quote one, how authors commonly devise characters that have a balance of “good and bad qualities” and that are relatable enough whether in personage or situation to resonate on a personal level with the reader. Arabella, the protagonist of The Female Quixote, would fall into this category of characters: as quote two details she may hurt the one’s around her but her beauty, intellect, wit, and charm, all qualities a reader may want to obtain or may see in themselves, make it okay and justify her flaws. Arabella’s coy and enchanting yet manipulative personality creates a character one would want to emulate because of the power she holds due to the aforementioned traits, but simultaneously creates a person one should want to avoid because of the discontent she causes for others. Interesting to note is how Arabella embodies the youth described by Johnson because everything she has learned about conducting herself she has learned from reading novels and studying their characters, which goes to show that releasing agency to follow the life-path of a fictional protagonist should not be used as a model for shaping a person—rather experience, instead, should mold an individual.