Fantomina
Word Count: 289
Fantomina by Eliza Haywood
"tis thus our silly, fond, believing Sex are serv'd when they put Faith in Man: So had I been deceiv'd and cheated, had I like the rest believ'd, and sat down mourning in Absence, and vainly waiting recover'd Tendernesses. – How do some Women, (continued she) make their Life a Hell, burning in fruitless Expectations, and dreaming out their Days in Hopes and Fears, then wake at last to all the Horror of Dispair?" (Haywood)
This quotation encapsulates the main character's frustration in Fantomina. It depicts her pain, but also her lovesick stupidity. This quotation came after Beauplaisir had already become bored with some of her characters, but she still seems surprised he committed the same atrocities with her new persona. She, playing a new role, pursues him repeatedly in hopes he might stay and not get bored, and every time he does, and she is disappointed. This quotation also relays the fact that she feels more fortunate than other women. She believes that because she can reinvent herself into a new person to keep him interested, she has not fallen into the trap that most women do. That because she knows he will eventually get bored with her, she is smarter than the rest. This is not true - in the end, he still leaves her, and she is alone.
This work seems particularly overdramatic and theatrical - it almost seems like a satirical rendition of how society believed women acted. Women were viewed as though they needed to be controlled and taught how to restrain themselves, and this novel portrays women as simple and primal in pursuing their desires and in love. Haywood describes the main character as a woman of high society and class. This leaves the audience to wonder if Haywood is making commentary about the upper class and their actions.
Finally, in Fantomina, Haywood uses sex outside of marriage as the main plot point. As this novel was published in 1725, one can only imagine the outrage that came from the release. For an author, especially a female author, to write about something so taboo was unheard of for the time. Haywood's bravery in writing this work is astounding.
Haywood, Eliza. Fantomina: Or, Love in a Maze, University of Pennsylvania, digital.library.upenn.edu/women/haywood/fantomina/fantomina.html.
I really liked the points you focused on, especially the fact that Fantomina became disappointed in being of little interest to a man she was in love with. This caused her to continually create new characters to obtain the attention she longed for. I think it is important to note the self-destruction she was creating. The small gratification she gained from the attention that came with a new character, was not worth the heartbreak she would soon feel once Beauplaisir became disinterested in that same character.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Fantomina was different compared to other women because she had the ability to change her character and personality four different times for this man. Though, Fantomina thought dressing up as someone else each time will make him fall in love with her, he still didn't. He thought each time she changed her disguise, she was a new person and not the same women. I also agree with how the author made this writing overdramatic.
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