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Anna Haywood 's The Enormous Admiration And Approval Of Eliza Haywood

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In spite of the enormous admiration and approval of Eliza Haywood’s novellas, which at the time of their exact publication were genuine sale rivals to the works of writers such as pope and Swift, traditional scholarship has attached little to no importance to the name of Haywood. Such scholarship, however, is terribly injudicious and ill-advised. As one of the creators of popular literature, especially the influencial and well circulated novel, Haywood is one of the key figures in Eighteenth Century literature whose name and influence has remained with us still to this day. Haywood’s work has always been revolutionary in theme as they all have a focal point largely resting upon the role of the female within a patriarchal society, as well as dipping in to themes of the possibilities of female empowerment and even the taboo matters of female promiscuity and sexual freedom. In Fantommina, Haywood’s revolutionary stand points on society come into relation with the concept of female identity in a patriarchal civilization. In this troubling novella we are presented and forced to notice the very notion that female identity is completely displaced by patriarchy, which forces women into constricting and ultimately ineffective and defenseless roles. Fantomina: or love in a maze, is fittingly labelled “A masquerade Novel.” It is very true that the centralized plot of the piece circles arounf the masquerade as the protagonist constructs her herself several different personas

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