The Female Quixote

Lennox was particularly drawn to Miguel de Cervantes' "Don Quixote," and in 1752 she published "The Female Quixote, Or, The Adventures of Arabella" to enthusiastic reception. The work is part imitation and part commentary on the original, casting a privileged young daughter of a marquis, Arabella, as the novel's heroine. Just like Don Quixote, Arabella embarks on a series of adventures in the countryside, all the while mistakenly thinking herself to be the archetypal maiden of a Romance. This novel served as the basis for Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey."