Fantomina
The Mystery Women of 1725: Ms. Anonymous Fantomina
No sensible man wants their significant other to be a prostitute, stripper, exotic dancer, or anything involved with the sort. However, who’s to tell a young woman what she can and cannot do with her own life? Certainly not a parent after their child has already moved out to explore the world and discover themselves as a person. Hip pop fans go by the motto “YOLO,” which means you only live once, interpreted as an individual who is living life to the fullest without any concerns of repercussions. Women are stereotyped into a certain role and expected to live within the standards society creates for them. In 1725, when Fantomina was written, every aspect of a woman’s life was controlled by a man. Men were perceived to be the dominate figure and women as virgins, wives, or widows. The chances of a woman not being judged for her wrong decisions are slim to none. Regarding relationships, nobody can ever completely be aware of one’s intentions at first glimpse. Men would entertain the thought of sleeping with multiple women, girlfriend or not, and it is natural instinct for a woman to want to protect herself from all the dangers of an unfaithful man. Is this what Haywood was trying to emphasize when writing Fantomia? In this essay, I argue that Fantomina was written to illustrate a woman’s curiosity of love, affairs and sexual satisfaction using deception, while trying to conceal her identity with fear of degrading her true self if she was not in full disguise.
In the short story, Fantomia, author Eliza Haywood depicts a protagonist that is determined to seduce this man, Beauplasir. She dresses herself as four different characters to conceal her identity but at first she is described as “A young lady of distinguished Birth, Beauty, Wit, and Spirit…”(Haywood, p.1) “She was young, a Stranger to the World, and consequently to the Dangers of it.” This describes the character to be an attractive young lady, a new face
No sensible man wants their significant other to be a prostitute, stripper, exotic dancer, or anything involved with the sort. However, who’s to tell a young woman what she can and cannot do with her own life? Certainly not a parent after their child has already moved out to explore the world and discover themselves as a person. Hip pop fans go by the motto “YOLO,” which means you only live once, interpreted as an individual who is living life to the fullest without any concerns of repercussions. Women are stereotyped into a certain role and expected to live within the standards society creates for them. In 1725, when Fantomina was written, every aspect of a woman’s life was controlled by a man. Men were perceived to be the dominate figure and women as virgins, wives, or widows. The chances of a woman not being judged for her wrong decisions are slim to none. Regarding relationships, nobody can ever completely be aware of one’s intentions at first glimpse. Men would entertain the thought of sleeping with multiple women, girlfriend or not, and it is natural instinct for a woman to want to protect herself from all the dangers of an unfaithful man. Is this what Haywood was trying to emphasize when writing Fantomia? In this essay, I argue that Fantomina was written to illustrate a woman’s curiosity of love, affairs and sexual satisfaction using deception, while trying to conceal her identity with fear of degrading her true self if she was not in full disguise.
In the short story, Fantomia, author Eliza Haywood depicts a protagonist that is determined to seduce this man, Beauplasir. She dresses herself as four different characters to conceal her identity but at first she is described as “A young lady of distinguished Birth, Beauty, Wit, and Spirit…”(Haywood, p.1) “She was young, a Stranger to the World, and consequently to the Dangers of it.” This describes the character to be an attractive young lady, a new face