Literary Analysis
Eliza Haywood was a prolific writer throughout the early eighteenth-century who often found herself in the public eye. She was infamous throughout this time due to her unique lifestyle. Fantomina; or, Love in a Maze is a novel by Eliza Haywood that was published in 1725. Throughout this short story, the protagonist disguises herself as different women in her efforts to seek her own desires. Fantomina is a story about many masks, deceit, desires, and establishes social questions, and how Fantomina is able to use these to achieve her goals and break away from societal expectations.
Firstly, there are the many masks of Fantomina. Haywood writes a character that is able to use her cunning to her advantage, to achieve her end goals. Author Kathryn Hansen argues that “the novella shows dress can provide women with power that they can find in few other arenas” (Hansen), but I would suggest that the dress is only a small part of the mask itself. I would argue that Fantomina’s masks revolve more around her own cunning as a person, and is a show of intellect rather than her dress being a main part of her trickery. Throughout the novella, we can see that Fantomina is able to earn Beauplaisir’s love numerous times, and he even writes two letters to “the Charming Mrs. BLOOMER” (Haywood, 9), and to “the Lovely FANTOMINA” (Haywood, 10), without even knowing that these letters are both going to the same person. I would suggest that the main reason for this is Fantomina’s ability to take on a character. The dress is helpful, but her ability to create a new backstory and change how she acts is the main part of the mask. Therefore, rather than putting a focus on her dressing to the part for trickery, I would point to her ability to adapt to the situation as being a big part of the masks that Fantomina is able to wear to let her expose herself to these different facets of life.
Secondly, there is the deceit that goes on with Fantomina. At the beginning of the novella, we see that Fantomina wants to see what it would be like to be a prostitute, and decides to hide herself as one, deceiving everyone around her. Here she is able to experiment with herself and things that typically would be unacceptable for a woman like her from society. In an article covering Fantomina and the literary tradition of women’s community by Ruth Garcia, she argues that “the clothes serve as a protective space from which the heroine can experiment with behavior traditionally denied women.” (Garcia), and while I do believe that this is partially correct, as it does allow for Fantomina to explore with behavior that traditionally would not be allowed, I think that the clothes serve as more of exploration than as a protective space. This can be seen early in the novella, when “This excited a Curiosity in her to know in what Manner these Creatures were address’d” (Haywood, 2). This goes to show how Fantomina was not using her clothes to serve as a protective space, but moreover as a means to an end. She wanted to experience what it was like to be a prostitute, so she used her clothes to be able to explore this facet of life. Fantomina was able to use her different clothes and disguises to explore facets of life that were typically frowned upon, especially for the time, but the clothes are not protective to her. She is put into horrid situations due to the clothes, and while this is not exactly her fault, it does go to show the risks of deceit.
Fantomina is depicted as a woman who is very aware of her desires. She does these things that are frowned upon by society, especially for a woman of high social status such as herself, and explores her sexual desires. I believe that, especially for the time period, this is a very empowering female character. She goes against what society wants, and goes to show that you do not have to conform to the norms of society. This is best shown at the start of the novella, when Fantomina, a woman of high society, becomes “a suppos’d Prostitute” (Haywood, 2). This is something that would be extremely frowned upon for someone of her social status, and goes to show how she is aware of, and willing to go through with her desires. Fantomina wished to know what it was like to be a prostitute and her curiosities led her to go through with this plan and pretend to be one herself. Haywood does a great job of writing Fantomina in a way that she is in no way perfect, where she feels very human, but still is able to show off how you do not have to conform to what society expects of you.
Finally, Fantomina is able to establish many social questions. In the start of the story, Fantomina is effectively raped by Beauplaisir, with him having “gain’d a victory” (Haywood,4). This is referring to his “victory” over her as him having gotten his way with her, despite Fantomina’s wishes. The only thing about this, is that there are other ways to view this. Fantomina likes to explore the idea of Locke’s idea of tacit consent. This idea is that when one steps into a land, then they give consent to all of that government’s laws, and give up their rights. This applies to this situation with the idea that Fantomina, when dressing up as a prostitute, she then agrees to the rules of this lifestyle, so when she went back home with Beauplaisir, she consented to this. This shows how Eliza Haywood was able to establish social questions in Fantomina.
Fantomina as a story explores many ideas and themes. Fantomina herself is an interesting heroine, as her morals come into question throughout the novella, due to society's beliefs for what she should be doing. There are many parts where the book makes you think, such as the aforementioned ones above. But above all else, I would suggest that the main takeaway from Fantomina is that you do not need to be confined by what society says you should do, and Fantomina herself is a perfect example of this. She is someone who is not perfect and is shown to have many flaws, but this just makes her a character that is easier to relate to, and makes her more human, which in turn empowers us to believe that we can do things that we desire outside of societal norms and expectations as well.
Garcia, Ruth G. “Sartorial Subversion: Eliza Haywood’s Fantomina and the Literary Tradition of Women’s Community.” Women’s Writing, vol. 28, no. 3, Aug. 2021, pp. 336–51. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/09699082.2020.1767755.
Hansen, Kathryn S. “Dress as Deceptive Visual Rhetoric in Eliza Haywood’s Fantomina.” ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830, vol. 11, no. 2, Sept. 2021. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.5038/2157-7129.11.2.1275.
Firstly, there are the many masks of Fantomina. Haywood writes a character that is able to use her cunning to her advantage, to achieve her end goals. Author Kathryn Hansen argues that “the novella shows dress can provide women with power that they can find in few other arenas” (Hansen), but I would suggest that the dress is only a small part of the mask itself. I would argue that Fantomina’s masks revolve more around her own cunning as a person, and is a show of intellect rather than her dress being a main part of her trickery. Throughout the novella, we can see that Fantomina is able to earn Beauplaisir’s love numerous times, and he even writes two letters to “the Charming Mrs. BLOOMER” (Haywood, 9), and to “the Lovely FANTOMINA” (Haywood, 10), without even knowing that these letters are both going to the same person. I would suggest that the main reason for this is Fantomina’s ability to take on a character. The dress is helpful, but her ability to create a new backstory and change how she acts is the main part of the mask. Therefore, rather than putting a focus on her dressing to the part for trickery, I would point to her ability to adapt to the situation as being a big part of the masks that Fantomina is able to wear to let her expose herself to these different facets of life.
Secondly, there is the deceit that goes on with Fantomina. At the beginning of the novella, we see that Fantomina wants to see what it would be like to be a prostitute, and decides to hide herself as one, deceiving everyone around her. Here she is able to experiment with herself and things that typically would be unacceptable for a woman like her from society. In an article covering Fantomina and the literary tradition of women’s community by Ruth Garcia, she argues that “the clothes serve as a protective space from which the heroine can experiment with behavior traditionally denied women.” (Garcia), and while I do believe that this is partially correct, as it does allow for Fantomina to explore with behavior that traditionally would not be allowed, I think that the clothes serve as more of exploration than as a protective space. This can be seen early in the novella, when “This excited a Curiosity in her to know in what Manner these Creatures were address’d” (Haywood, 2). This goes to show how Fantomina was not using her clothes to serve as a protective space, but moreover as a means to an end. She wanted to experience what it was like to be a prostitute, so she used her clothes to be able to explore this facet of life. Fantomina was able to use her different clothes and disguises to explore facets of life that were typically frowned upon, especially for the time, but the clothes are not protective to her. She is put into horrid situations due to the clothes, and while this is not exactly her fault, it does go to show the risks of deceit.
Fantomina is depicted as a woman who is very aware of her desires. She does these things that are frowned upon by society, especially for a woman of high social status such as herself, and explores her sexual desires. I believe that, especially for the time period, this is a very empowering female character. She goes against what society wants, and goes to show that you do not have to conform to the norms of society. This is best shown at the start of the novella, when Fantomina, a woman of high society, becomes “a suppos’d Prostitute” (Haywood, 2). This is something that would be extremely frowned upon for someone of her social status, and goes to show how she is aware of, and willing to go through with her desires. Fantomina wished to know what it was like to be a prostitute and her curiosities led her to go through with this plan and pretend to be one herself. Haywood does a great job of writing Fantomina in a way that she is in no way perfect, where she feels very human, but still is able to show off how you do not have to conform to what society expects of you.
Finally, Fantomina is able to establish many social questions. In the start of the story, Fantomina is effectively raped by Beauplaisir, with him having “gain’d a victory” (Haywood,4). This is referring to his “victory” over her as him having gotten his way with her, despite Fantomina’s wishes. The only thing about this, is that there are other ways to view this. Fantomina likes to explore the idea of Locke’s idea of tacit consent. This idea is that when one steps into a land, then they give consent to all of that government’s laws, and give up their rights. This applies to this situation with the idea that Fantomina, when dressing up as a prostitute, she then agrees to the rules of this lifestyle, so when she went back home with Beauplaisir, she consented to this. This shows how Eliza Haywood was able to establish social questions in Fantomina.
Fantomina as a story explores many ideas and themes. Fantomina herself is an interesting heroine, as her morals come into question throughout the novella, due to society's beliefs for what she should be doing. There are many parts where the book makes you think, such as the aforementioned ones above. But above all else, I would suggest that the main takeaway from Fantomina is that you do not need to be confined by what society says you should do, and Fantomina herself is a perfect example of this. She is someone who is not perfect and is shown to have many flaws, but this just makes her a character that is easier to relate to, and makes her more human, which in turn empowers us to believe that we can do things that we desire outside of societal norms and expectations as well.
Works Cited
Garcia, Ruth G. “Sartorial Subversion: Eliza Haywood’s Fantomina and the Literary Tradition of Women’s Community.” Women’s Writing, vol. 28, no. 3, Aug. 2021, pp. 336–51. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1080/09699082.2020.1767755.
Hansen, Kathryn S. “Dress as Deceptive Visual Rhetoric in Eliza Haywood’s Fantomina.” ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640-1830, vol. 11, no. 2, Sept. 2021. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.5038/2157-7129.11.2.1275.
I love your takeaway from Fantomina and I agree that not allowing yourself to be confined by social norms is a really important theme that is found in this story.
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