Thesis: Eliza Haywood's Fantomina, or Love in a Maze explores the negative implications of 18th century depictions of curiosity and desire for women, as well as the absence of these implications for men. These themes are present in the descriptive language used throughout Fantomina’s corruption by a curiosity that becomes intense desire and shameful pregnancy, as well as the blameless masculine sexual exploits of Beauplaisir.

I was hoping that by shifting my thesis and paper to cover more of the gendered nature of desire in this period that I would avoid rewriting my first paper and could actually use more of the information I have gathered. In order to plan my paper I have gathered my literary quotations and placed them in an order that seems appropriate, followed by a few of my notes.

·      “Therefore thought it not in the least a Fault to put in practice a little Whim which came immediately into her Head”

·      “having at that Time no other Aim, than the Gratification of an innocent Curiosity.— She had no sooner design'd this Frolick, than she put it in Execution”  

·      “young, a Stranger to the World,”

• · Innocent, external, experimental curiosity
• ·      “excited a curiosity in her to know in what manner these Creatures were address’d.”

o   Use these to depict her initial innocence

·      “She listen'd to 'em all, and was not a little diverted in her Mind at the Disappointment she shou'd give to so many, each of which thought himself secure of gaining her.”

·      “She was naturally vain, and receiv'd no small Pleasure in hearing herself prais'd, tho' in the Person of another, and a suppos'd Prostitute.”

o   Has begun to internalize curiosity and shift towards pleasurable goals of desire

·      “And she found a vast deal of Pleasure in conversing with him in this free and unrestrain'd Manner.”

• ·      “she in a Hackney-Chair hurry'd home to indulge Contemplation on the Frolick she had taken”
• ·      “She fearful, – confus'd, altogether unprepar'd to resist in such Encounters, and rendered more so, by the extreme Liking she had to him.”

·      “Strange and unaccountable were the Whimsies she was possess'd of, – wild and incoherent her Desires, – unfix'd and undetermin'd her Resolutions, but in that of seeing Beauplaisir in the Manner she had lately done.”

·      “it was only he whose Solicitations could give her Pleasure” No one else, zero religious concern

·      “Her Design was once more to engage him, to hear him sigh, to see him languish, to feel the strenuous Pressures of his eager Arms, to be compelled, to be sweetly forc'd to what she wished with equal Ardour, was what she wanted, and what she had form'd a Stratagem to obtain, in which she promis'd herself Success.” Clearly indulgence in unrestrained, instant sexual satisfaction

·      “and remembring the Height of Transport she enjoyed when the agreeable Beauplaisir kneel'd at her Feet, imploring her first Favours, she long'd to prove the same again.”

o   Has become purely desire and indulgence

In women, any curiosity, even in an innocent individual, is shown to have the ability to become an intense desire.

·      “THEY pass'd the Time of their Journey in as much Happiness as the most luxurious Gratification of wild Desires could make them”

·      “The Passion he profess'd for her, was not of that humble Nature which can be content with distant Adorations: – He resolv'd not to part from her without the Gratifications of those Desires she had inspir'd” – His discontented desire is her fault

·       “His wild Desires burst out in all his Words and Actions” –undeniably he allows desire to guide his choices

·      “BUT he varied not so much from his Sex as to be able to prolong Desire” –expected in society for men to stray and be inconsistent

·      “His Stay at Bath exceeded not a Month; but in that Time his suppos'd Country Lass had persecuted him so much with her Fondness, that in spite of the Eagerness with which he first enjoy'd her, he was at last grown more weary of her, than he had been of Fantomina” Though he initially was extremely intent on being with her, his desire has once again failed to last

·      “being tir'd of her Conversation, he was willing to be at liberty to pursue new Conquests; and wisely considering that Complaints, Tears, Swooning, and all the Extravagancies which Women make use of in such Cases, have little Prevailence over a Heart inclin'd to rove, and only serve to render those who practice them more contemptible, by robbing them of that Beauty which alone can bring back the [Page 268] fugitive Lover” –women are blamed for becoming less attractive to men who cheat by becoming upset

·      “This, indeed, must be said of Beauplaisir, that he had a [Page 278] greater Share of good Nature than most of his Sex, who, for the most part, when they are weary of an Intreague, break it entirely off, without any Regard to the Despair of the abandon'd Nymph. Though he retain'd no more than a bare Pity and Complaisance for Fantomina, yet believing she lov'd him to an Excess, would not entirely forsake her, though the Continuance of his Visits was now become rather a Penance than a Pleasure.” – this man is respected in society because he remains in contact with Fantomina out of pity for her female emotions, while most would be expected to abandon her. Suggests that nearly all men flee from woman to woman, with their desire quickly causing them to discard of each woman carelessly in search of a new exciting encounter. Only the good ones will remain in any slight contact with their pitiful ex-lovers.

·       “O that all neglected Wives, and fond abandon'd Nymphs would take this Method! – Men would be caught in their own Snare, and have no Cause to scorn our easy, weeping, wailing Sex!” Reiterates that men are inconstant in their devotion and that women can only fight this by manipulating the fleeting nature of male desire.

Desire is an acceptable and expectable trait in men, but is a shameful dishonor in women.

·      “She found the Consequences of her amorous Follies would be, without almost a Miracle, impossible to be concealed: – She was with Child”

·      “and little fearing any Consequence which could ensue from such an Encounter, resolv'd to rest satisfy'd till he was inform'd of every Thing from herself”

·      “All the Pity and Tenderness she had been for some Moment before possess'd of, now vanish'd, and were succeeded by an adequate Shame and Indignation”

·      “he never had a Thought which tended to her Dishonour.”

·      “a Parent she had dishonour'd in such a Manner”

·      “I cannot live, and bear this Shame!”

·      “Is this the Gentleman, (said she,) to whom you owe your Ruin?”

·      (not sure how to use this one) “Oh! no, (resum'd the trembling Creature,) he is, indeed, the innocent Cause of my Undoing”

·      “The Blame is wholly her's, and I have nothing to request further of you, than that you will not divulge the distracted Folly she has been guilty of.”

·      “as soon as [Page 291] her Daughter was in a Condition, sent her to a Monastery in France”

o   ends in her total shame and exclusion from society, while he remains respected and deemed innocent.