rthermore, a few of them, Lady Bellaston in particular, actually demonstrate assertiveness and determination, which is again, unusual for the time period. London states that "female power, although most richly evoked in negative terms as an expression of carnality, also has its positive embodiment in the person of Sophia" (329).
             This seeming rise of feminine power stops abruptly, however, with Sophia's concession and marriage to Tom. According to London, "Sophia . . . is correspondingly diminishe
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