This text analyzes the ways in which female virtue was tied to a new concept of authenticity in 18th-century sentimental fiction, producing a redefinition of gender relations on the one hand and re-examination of the value and place of fictional narrative on the other. As the old values of the aristocracy were being overturned and it was no longer possible simply to equate personal worth with rank or title, a new narrative protagonist was born - someone who was authentic, virtuous and usually female. New questions arose at the same time: what kind of language could represent this authentic self?; how far should the virtuous subject be tested?; and what is the role of the reader in the process?