Final Paper Brainstorming

Thesis from Paper 2:

Interest in The Female Quixote reflects the right of having a claim in something through the economic examples of interest as a commodity and currency, something that can be invested and competed for, and the right of a family to have a share in an estate. (This will need to be reworked for the final paper)

The interest I am talking about is not an actual monetary interest accrued overtime off of a principal value. I am talking about the interest people show for something or someone. People have interest in something that holds their attention, that provides the person with happiness and pleasure.

"It is the vanity, not the ease or the pleasure, which interests us. But vanity is always founded upon the belief of our being the object of attention and approbation" (Smith 512).

Smith is arguing that we strive to earn a living to gain our interests not for the pleasures we can afford, but, for the attention that we receive from others.

"To be observed, to be attended to, to be taken notice of with sympathy, complacency, and approbation, are all the advantages which we can propose to derive from it" (Smith 512).

The "it" that is being derived from is the "great purpose of human life which we call bettering our condition" (Smith 512).

So we strive to "better our condition" by accruing more of our interests. These interests are in more than just the simple necessities of life. These things have to be above what the common man can attain. These are the luxuries of life. These luxuries increase the "vanity" that makes the person the "object of attention and approbation." The person of vanity is in the eyes of the public. The luxuries may not be the ultimate interest. The ultimate interest is that of vanity and being in the public eye.

The person in the public eye has their vanity fueled by being the object of the public's attention. The public now has an interest in being connected to the person of vanity. The person in the public desires to be in the same position as the person of vanity. They invest their interest in the vain person in the hopes that they can, in turn, receive the interest of the vain person.

Maybe, in order to maintain their place of vanity in the public eye, the vain person will show interest in the public to, in a sense, buy their attention. This exchange of interests helps the public rise in vanity and approach the position of the vain person.

"it is upon him that their passions seem all to wait with expectation , in order to receive that movement and direction which he shall impress upon them; and if his behavior is not altogether absurd, he has every moment an opportunity of interesting mankind and of rendering himself the object of the observation and fellow-feeling of everybody about him" (Smith 512).

Clearly, these ideas are raw and not quite coherent yet. I need to dig into The Wealth of Nations deeper to make sure these quotes support my claims. It is possible that Smith will contradict these assertions but any contradictions could be useful for the paper if I can explain both sides of what Smith is trying to say and what I am trying to say.

I think the quote "The estates exchanged must be equal in quantity; not in value...but of interest" (Blackstone) from the OED will be helpful in this discussion.

I also need to see how I can tie this into Mr. Glanville's interest in Arabella. Is his interest in marriage supported by the idea of appearances in the public eye. Could this be the motivation for him to "cure" her of the obsession with romances?