Eliza Haywood wrote Fantomina, a short novel, at a time when the genre was only just being introduced. The novel had not yet gained respect as a literary form. Many people, around the eighteenth century, believed that novels were meant for mothers and their daughters, who were typically at home all day with nothing else to do, since most did not work. Many novelists would adhere to this idea when creating female characters; they often carried few roles. However, Fantomina appears to demonstrate feminist views that were rare, and more radical for its time. Eliza Haywood shows an intelligence and stealthiness in her main character, in contrast to the era’s concept of what a woman should be. This seems to put Fantomina ahead of its time, in many respects. At the start of the novel, Eliza Haywood places her protagonist in a very interesting, unique position, with regards to society of the time. The nameless main character is first illustrated in a playhouse, observing the interactions of the strangers around her. She notices a prostitute, surrounded by a swarm of men. “She could not help testifying her contempt of men who...threw away their time in such a manner, to some Ladies...the greater was her wonder, that men, some of whom she knew were accounted to have wit, should have tastes for very depraved” (257-258.) “Fantomina”, as she later comes to be called, oversees all of this. Haywood seems to put her above this crowd of men and prostitutes, while she observes and makes judgments on the nature of their behaviors. She expresses that she is disgusted by the mindlessness of the men in this situation. One might argue that this depicts a reversal of gender roles. Typically, men would look at women in this way, and the male character wo... ... middle of paper ... ...f her time. She wrote the novel at a time where women were incredibly limited. They were essentially accessories to society’s men. Fantomina sheds light on the error of such ideologies. It shows women to be intelligent, powerful beings, while shedding light on the weaknesses of men. Haywood shows great contrast between society’s perception of the ideal women, through Fantomina’s mother and the convent, and the rebellious main character that disregards these societal norms. In doing so, Haywood shows her readers the potential of women. Given that the majority of the readers of novels were young women and mothers, Fantomina must have been a relevant book for that audience. It seems likely that Haywood wrote such a powerful book to, in a sense, inspire her female readers to be strong, independent controllers of their own lives. Works Cited Fantomina, Eliza Haywood
The first woman seen is Emma, a Brotherhood employee, who is perceived to be very powerful and demeaning toward the narrator although physically attracted to him. She engages in limited dialog which, I believe is intended to paint her as diminutive; however she is described as “smartly dressed” with a “hard, handsome face” (300). Her...
During the Victorian Era, society had idealized expectations that all members of their culture were supposedly striving to accomplish. These conditions were partially a result of the development of middle class practices during the “industrial revolution… [which moved] men outside the home… [into] the harsh business and industrial world, [while] women were left in the relatively unvarying and sheltered environments of their homes” (Brannon 161). This division of genders created the ‘Doctrine of Two Spheres’ where men were active in the public Sphere of Influence, and women were limited to the domestic private Sphere of Influence. Both genders endured considerable pressure to conform to the idealized status of becoming either a masculine ‘English Gentleman’ or a feminine ‘True Woman’. The characteristics required women to be “passive, dependent, pure, refined, and delicate; [while] men were active, independent, coarse …strong [and intelligent]” (Brannon 162). Many children's novels utilized these gendere...
A major concern in both the film and the original text is the ‘status of women’. This is represented through the differing roles of women and their denigration within the Elizabethan society. For instance, Hero is accused of committing infidelity; consequently her image in society is tarnished, In addition to this, Claudio insults Hero publicly without even considering confirming the accusation of her being unchaste. This is illustrated through Claudio slandering Hero through the use of usage of Greek Mythological allusions “You seem to as Dian in her orb, but you are more intemperate than Venus in y...
Gender roles were important in the eighteenth century because firmly established roles for each gender helped build and maintain a strong family unit. A family with a strong structure was vital because the family was the basis for all other institutions. Everything from government to church worked through the strong family unit. Women in the eighteenth century were designated to maintain household order and be subservient to the man. Eliza Wharton does not lose her innocence throughout the novel, Foster starts the novel with Eliza already enticed by the idea of freedom. Eliza refuses to cooperate with the domestic and republican ideology that is enforced by the women around her. Eliza challenges those who are happily the voice of domesticity. Eliza has no intention of participating in typical republican motherhood and matrimonial bonds. Eliza’s refusal to accept the normal gender roles of the eighteenth century is a menace to the patriarchy. One of Eliza’s suitors Boyer, ends up getting his heart
Throughout most of literature and history, the notion of ‘the woman’ has been little more than a caricature of the actual female identity. Most works of literature rely on only a handful of tropes for their female characters and often use women to prop up the male characters: female characters are sacrificed for plot development. It may be that the author actually sacrifices a female character by killing her off, like Mary Shelly did in Frankenstein in order to get Victor Frankenstein to confront the monster he had created, or by reducing a character to just a childish girl who only fulfills a trope, as Oscar Wilde did with Cecily and Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest. Using female characters in order to further the male characters’
...eristics of feminism but did not fully grasp them. They act as a perfect representation of women in the Middle Ages to Scholasticism period that went through social suppression by enlightening readers of the men’s misconduct against them. These two women started a movement that changed the course of history for humankind, even for being fictional and nonfictional pieces.
Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing is, on the surface, a typical romantic comedy with a love-plot that ends in reconciliation and marriage. This surface level conformity to the conventions of the genre, however, conceals a deeper difference that sets Much Ado apart. Unlike Shakespeare’s other romantic comedies, Much Ado about Nothing does not mask class divisions by incorporating them into an idealized community. Instead of concealing or obscuring the problem of social status, the play brings it up explicitly through a minor but important character, Margaret, Hero’s “waiting gentlewoman.” Shakespeare suggests that Margaret is an embodiment of the realistic nature of social class. Despite her ambition, she is unable to move up in hierarchy due to her identity as a maid. Her status, foiling Hero’s rich, protected upbringing, reveals that characters in the play, as well as global citizens, are ultimately oppressed by social relations and social norms despite any ambition to get out.
By definition, a heroine is a woman who would typically encompass the qualities of nobility, courage, independence and strength. Nineteenth century English women would have struggled to accomplish any of these particular acts of heroism within their social environment as ultimately, their roles within civilisation saw them becoming a good wives and mothers and before that, obliging and caring daughters. Within this ubiquitous discourse of separate spheres, Kathryn Gleadle suggests that women were encouraged to see themselves as relative creatures', whose path in life was to nurture the family and to provide unstinting support for the head of the household' In this respect, the nineteenth century British woman conforming to this path' would prove to be the heroine of that time as a free-spirited independent individual would have been cast aside as socially unacceptable. Essentially, although it would appear that many women wished to lead active, working lives and so make an important contribution, either to their families or to social welfare, the woman's position [was] to preside over a loving home whilst men were to brave the vicissitude and demands of public and business life' Novelists Thomas Hardy and Emily Brontë present us with two strong and independent females Tess Durbeyfield and Catherine Earnshaw. These women are far from the idealistic view of nineteenth century females; Tess, intelligent and strikingly attractive, strives to uphold the values expected of her but outside forces beyond her control determine her fate. Catherine on the other hand begins her life free-spirited, rebellious and of a wild nature. However, her inner desire craves social ambition which, in turn, shows her slowly representing culture and civilisation.
The eponymous pseudonym Fantomina suggests derivation from a phantom, an apparition or an illusion; and the character is defined by her talent for deception. Immediately, Haywood describes Fantomina as “A Young Lady of distinguished Birth, Beauty, Wit, and Spirit” (713), yet she is soon marked out as different. Once, Fantomina is released from her context in the rural gentry and untethered from obligation, she moves from contempt to curiosity toward the London gentlemen. Active in pursuit of her sexual desire, Fantomina takes on traditionally male traits. Beauplaisir, on the other hand, serves as the object of desire, the passive recipient of her manipulation and deception. Fantomina’s sexual desire was motivated by nothing but pure curiosity: “[She had] at that Time no other Aim, than the Gratification of an innocent curiosity” (713). However, her male-like curiosity and assertiveness immediately backfired as Fantomina realized she could not remain desirable to the male without changing. She becomes the object of desire “upon being undone” (716) by Beauplaisir and her appeal is soon lost. To maintain his affection, Fantomina feels the need to play various other roles. In doing so, Haywood had reverted Fantomina back to her traditional
Margaret Cavendish’s Blazing World qualifies as both a precursor to science fiction and an exploration of utopian literature. Cavendish redefines customary representations of women through challenging the boundaries of gender whilst eradicating conventions of the genre. In her essay Gender, Genre, and the Utopian Body, author Marina Leslie suggests that Cavendish realigns three of the dominant modes of discourse which are employed in the representation of women in literature; misogynistic narratives of women-on-top, literary conventions of romance and finally the evolving textual practices of philosophy.
It is the aim of this piece to consider how two elements are developed in the opening chapters of three classic novels written by 19th century English women: Emma, Wuthering Heights, and Jane Eyre, respectively. The elements to be considered are a) character; and b) character relationships. Consideration will be given to see how each opening chapter develops these two aspects, and the various approaches will be compared and contrasted as well.
As any great artists would, Aphra Behn and Eliza Haywood attempt to earnestly depict a problem imposed on them and their era. In both “The Disappointment” and “Fantomina”, the identity of the women and the inclinations natural to them are criminally misunderstood by both the men and the women in the stories. Though fictionalized, the tales express a desperate need felt by the women of the time and throughout history. While the dramatic and overwhelming time of adolescence is merely a bewildering phase for today’s youth, it was once seen by everyone as a dangerous, shameful, life-long struggle. These texts are an expression of solidarity with women, regardless of time or culture, who desire to own their identity as distinct from any imposed upon them.
Women roles have changed drastically in the last 50 to 80 years, women no longer have to completely conform to society’s gender roles and now enjoy the idea of being individuals. Along with the evolution of women roles in society, women presence and acceptance have drastically grown in modern literature. In early literature it was common to see women roles as simply caretakers, wives or as background; women roles and ideas were nearly non-existent and was rather seen than heard. The belief that women were more involved in the raising of children and taking care of the household was a great theme in many early literatures; women did not get much credit for being apart of the frontier and expansion of many of the nations success until much later.
In Anatomy of Criticism, author Northrop Frye writes of the low mimetic tragic hero and the society in which this hero is a victim. He introduces the concept of pathos saying it “is the study of the isolated mind, the story of how someone recognizably like ourselves is broken by a conflict between the inner and outer world, between imaginative reality and the sort of reality that is established by a social consensus” (Frye 39). The hero of Hannah W. Foster’s novel, The Coquette undoubtedly suffers the fate of these afore mentioned opposing ideals. In her inability to confine her imagination to the acceptable definitions of early American female social behavior, Eliza Wharton falls victim to the ambiguity of her society’s sentiments of women’s roles. Because she attempts to claim the freedom her society superficially advocates, she is condemned as a coquette and suffers the consequences of exercising an independent mind. Yet, Eliza does not stand alone in her position as a pathetic figure. Her lover, Major Sanford -- who is often considered the villain of the novel -- also is constrained by societal expectations and definitions of American men and their ambition. Though Sanford conveys an honest desire to make Eliza his wife, society encourages marriage as a connection in order to advance socially and to secure a fortune. Sanford, in contrast to Eliza, suffers as a result of adhering to social expectations of a male’s role. While Eliza suffers because she lives her life outside of her social categorization and Sanford falls because he attempts to maneuver and manipulate the system in which he lives, both are victims of an imperfect, developing, American society.
(5) Aeron Haynie, Imperialism and the Construction of Femininity in Mid-Victorian Fiction(Gainesville: University of Florida, Ph.D. dissertation, 1994).