 Jane Spencer described the character Portia as a common image in Fielding's works of an intellectual woman "who suffers from male prejudice against women of learning" and that "she can be seen as a surrogate for her author".Originally, critics thought that Sarah Fielding wrote the work herself, based on the republication and revision of the work.However, with recent discovery of Collier's notes and other documents, it is certain that Collier and Fielding together wrote the work.