“At four years of age he took her from under the direction of the nurses and women appointed to attend her, and permitted her to receive no part of her education from another, which he was capable of giving her himself.”

The Female Quixote page 6

“Like the Dutch, raising their dykes against the sea’s predatory advances, the (?)es in this book use their obsessions to block out the world’s dangers. What are these dangers? The troubling answer is that they are all the powerful in that they cannot be located.”

Introduction page 4

            The desire for steadfast protection from unknown dangers is a common human tendency that is amplified in obsessive circumstances. As mentioned in the quote above from the Introduction, the possibilities of danger gain their strength in their utterly unpredictable nature. In lacking the knowledge of specific menaces to fear, one will imagine extreme danger in every situation. In order to prevent these limitless dangers from harming the focus of one’s attention, one will “raise their dykes against the sea’s predatory advances.” In other words, one will take extreme measures to guard the focus of their obsession from any potential harm. In The Female Quixote, the Marquis was undeservedly disgraced and banished from court, and was in a “secret discontent.” As a result, he took up a brief courtship of a beautiful woman of good sense, married her, and moved to the country where he planned to spend the rest of his life, away from the cruelty of society. When his wife died in childbirth, his affection was transferred to the new babe. However, as a result of his negative experiences with society and the loss of his wife, his daughter and their isolation from the dangerous world becomes his sole obsessive focus. The quote above reveals his rejection of society and hesitation towards any external influences, even in the forms of nurses or teachers. Marquis would rather to be the sole influence in his daughter’s life than risk her being harmed by the innumerable potential dangers that exist in society. The man uses isolation from the outside world as a shield against further harm in their lives.

Where does responsibility lie with individuals who are entrapped by the influence of love?

“Miss Flora retired to her chamber, indeed, not to employ herself in the manner she pretended, but to give a loose to passions more inordinate and outrageous, than it would naturally be believed could have taken possession of so young a heart.

But it is now high time to let the reader see into the secret springs, which set her wicked wit in motion, and induced her to act in the manner she had done.”

Miss Betsy Thoughtless p219

“Love, like the grape’s potent juice, but heightens Nature, and makes the conceal’d Sparks of Good, or Ill, blaze out, and show themselves to the wond’ring World! It gives an Energy to our Wishes, a Vigour to our Understanding, and adds to the Violence of our Desires, but alters not the Bent of them.”

Reflections on the Various Effects of Love p114

Love has corrupted the common sense and good intentions of mankind throughout history, but where does the responsibility of individuals who act under this passionate spell exist in literature? In Miss Betsy Thoughtless, the main character’s cohort, and roommate, betrays Betsy as a result of her broken heart. Flora’s actions were extraordinarily calculating and malicious, but occur while under the influence of an encompassing jealousy and shattered emotional state. In the second quote, a simile compares the potency of love to that of wine. Love, like alcohol, adds enthusiasm to ordinary feelings. Does this compulsory power sway mankind’s liability while under the control of love? Could those who act under these impulses be considered innocent due to temporary drunken passion? Or would they be held responsible for these malicious actions? In the case of Flora, she has many motivations for her spiteful actions. Betsy is often vain and imprudent about her suitors. Flora desires these men, but is neglected while the men chase after Betsy. Her constant heartbreak is easily empathized with by the reader, suggesting that perhaps Betsy deserves the distress that is caused by Flora’s plotting. Or could one argue that Betsy, herself, was acting as a girl under the influence of overwhelming love and attention? The obscure nature of responsibility in regard to actions of love is a complex topic of interest.

In what ways can curiosity affect the human psyche as well as society as a whole?

 “…Elite and ignorant curiosity: both threaten the status quo. Curiosity resists control, both as appetite and as a material object.”

Introduction page 5

“Never had she been in such a Dilemna: Three of Four Times did she open her Mouth to confess her real Quality; but the influence of her ill stars prevented it, by putting an Excuse into her Head, which did the Business as well, and at the same Time did not take from her the Power of seeing and entertaining him a second time with the same Freedom she had done this.”

Fantomina page 3

            Fantomina by Eliza Haywood is a tale of a woman who pursues the man of her desire by disguising herself in a series of different personas from diverse social classes. In each form, she becomes the focus of his affection and then she takes a new appearance when he begins to search for a new love interest. The girl considers revealing the truth of her identity in the quote above, but is unable to do so as a result of the excuses in her mind that urge her to continue the scheme. This is an example of the power which curiosity holds over the human psyche. The character’s logical thoughts are dismissed by her curios desire to continue her scandalous ploy. As well as portraying the authority held by curiosity in the mind, Fantomina’s adaptation of several different identities in various social classes reveals the ability of curiosity to disrupt the status quo. This woman represents the true flexibility of social stratification and the ease at which one can traverse the classes. As stated in the primary quote from the Introduction, curiosity resists control as both a passionate human emotion and as an entity that can change the way society functions.

“I was lying in my bed, or Hammock, awake, very well in Health, had no Pain, no Distemper, no Uneasiness of Body; no, nor any Uneasiness of Mind, more than ordinary; but could by no means close my Eyes; that is, so as to sleep; no, not a Wink all night long, otherwise than as follows: It is as impossible, as needless, to set down the innumerable Crowd of Thoughts that whirl’d through that great thorow-fare of the Brain, … ever since I had seen the Print of a Foot in the Sand.”

Defoe, Robinson Crusoe; Pages 141-142

      “Always on the move, avaricious curiosity never paused to savor any single experience, even the most perfect of its kind; this is ‘why the sequence of chords pleases us more than the continuation of the same chord, even if it were the most melting in all of music,’ as Mersenne put it.

Daston, Wonders and the Order of Nature; Page 308

                  Defoe’s character Robinson Crusoe is a man of great curiosity, as portrayed in this quote. This point in the novel is part of a new episode in Crusoe’s life on the island. He has been alone but for the company of his tamed creatures throughout the last ten or so years, and by chance one day comes across one solemn human footprint in the sand. This evidence of other humankind sends Crusoe into a panicked state, during which he fortifies his home, crops, and livestock from the observation of the mysterious being who left their mark upon his beach. However, after his numerous safety precautions are in place, he remains unsatisfied and unable to quiet his thoughts. The metaphor comparing his brain to a “great thorow-fare” portrays the mind as a large roadway in which an excess of crowded thoughts travel in all directions, and each thought with its own destination and unique journey. This image is similar to that of the mind being in constant motion in the quote taken from Daston. Crusoe has spent time and energy putting into place every possible defense, but he remains thoroughly intrigued with this footprint to the extent that he is unable to sleep. As Daston mentions, he is unable to enjoy his moment of safety and general well being due solely to the fact that he is curious about this unknown being. Daston’s quote contains the words of another individual, who compares the sequence of thought in the curious mind to the sequence of chords played in a song. It is clear that Crusoe’s mind is a constant curious blur of thought, moving from one idea to the next in a way that makes sense of Mersenne’s words. Crusoe’s curiosity is much like a sequence of musical chords, never ceasing to enjoy one single experience, but preferring to question and ponder long into the night.