Point Of View In Eliza Haywood's Fantomina

And for the woman, we can categorized Charlotte Selton as the tomboy who has the appearance of the madonna. She is reliable, as can be seen from her taking care of Benjamin’s children during the war.

“‘She was competent, decisive, self-reliant; perhaps she intimidated them, for before long they drifted their attentions elsewhere’” (93).

normal part of society and how she would act towards others. In addition to the

Except for the fact that they “put on a show.” Women dressed an acted the way everyone imagined them to, for a very long time. By doing so men thought less of them. Men thought of women only as “house wives.” Their only responsibilities were to cook, clean and take care of the children. Which is the women’s fault for leading them to believe that’s all they could do, but it’s also the men’s fault.

When the narrator first encounters the girl, his friend's older sister, he can only see her silhouette in the “light from the half-opened door”. This is the beginning of his infatuation with the girl. After his discovery, he is plagued by thoughts of the girl which make his daily obligations seem like “ugly, monotonous, child's play”. He has become blinded by the light. The narrator not only fails to learn the name of his “girl”, he does not realize that his infatuation with a woman considerably older than himself is not appropriate. He relishes in his infatuation, feeling “thankful [he] could see so little” while he thinks of the distant “lamp or lighted window” that represents his girl. The narrator is engulfed by the false light that is his futile love.

She was always the smartest person in the room. She always got what she wanted, easily, but she didn't really want anything. Nobody had any power over her, which was absolutely dreadful and boring.

Written in third person limited omniscient, and filtered predominantly through Catherine. The unknown narrator slips effortlessly into free indirect disclosure, which adopts the tone and inflection of an individual characters voice. This technique allows the narrator to intrude into the narrative to offer advice, or to foreshadow the characters. However, the narrator frequently breaks from convention and addresses’ the reader directly.

Accordingly, Fantomina acts repetitively throughout the novel to gain the attention of Beauplaisir as a result of an identity crisis. This is relevant because she has a process of developing a character and subsequently seducing Beauplaisir, but she never realizes that she succumbs to each new role. Succumbing to the role almost as a method actor, she hides her true identity by burying beneath each character she embodies. Method acting tends to take a toll internally on a person and Fantomina is clearly affected, “she found herself involv’d in a Difficulty, which before never enter’d into her head”, she feels pulled into the role here and it reflects in her thoughts showing internal strife on how she initially uses her first character to interact with suitors (Haywood, 43). Therefore, Fantomina painstakingly undergoes a full transformation to become each identity to the fullest extent she can while discarding the previous layer of identity until her final true identity is revealed. Slowly, she peels away false attributes in the characters she acquires. As previously stated, the method of her embodiment of a role causes her to subconsciously adapt this persona as her own disguise. This method is how she can successfully adopt new alternative identities.

Women were raised to fit into gender roles, but that would not translate into a “man’s society”. The only solution was to make a hybrid role. As seen with Rosie the Riveter, “she is strong and at the same time beautiful.” (Hall, Orzada, and Lopez-Gydosh) This was a major distinction of the time- there was a mental image of elegant women, but also a hard reality that required women to abandon traditional views. While the definition of women had to change, so did their outward appearances.

In the start of the story, Haywood places Fantomina in an unusual place for a woman of her standard to be, a playhouse. She is seen observing the actions of those around her in her box seat. By purposefully placing Fantomina above the men in her location at the playhouse, this represents her power over men who are in the pit seats below her. Men are casted as “depraved” and deeply judged by the eye of Fantomina. (227). By allowing us to see the story from her perspective, Haywood furthers the division between men and women by showing the power that Fantomina currently holds while also foreshadowing the power she will gain by observing others and learning different mannerisms, such as those of a prostitute.

While Sir Gawain was nearly beheaded as was Aristotle in their stories, the result of the deception by Fantomina was an unplanned pregnancy. I feel that Haywood shows morality in this result because, unlike other works, the man is not punished for being deceived, with the only real trouble of Beauplaisir being that he knows of the existence of his child, which is an internal punishment for his actions. Beauplaisir being unpunished and having his name remain untarnished while Fantomina was sent to a monastery with her child is an example of how Haywood remained consistent with the portrayal of other works in regards to male and female portrayal while also distinguishing herself and her work from other works.

The narrator in the story “Miss Brill” by Katherine Mansfield, is telling us this story in the third person singular perspective. Our narrator is a non-participant and we learn no details about this person, from a physical sense. Nothing to tell us whether it is a friend of Miss Brill, a relative, or just someone watching. Katherine Mansfield’s Miss Brill comes alive from the descriptions we get from this anonymous person. The narrator uses limited omniscience while telling us about this beautiful Sunday afternoon. By this I mean the narrator has a great insight into Miss Brill’s perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and into her world as a whole, but no real insight into any of the other characters in this story. By using this point of view,

Unlike other novels, Fantomina breaks norms with its short length and the ambiguity of the characters. Haywood does not give the characters formal names and the names are never revealed. The novel can be categorized as a masquerade novel because of Fantomina’s disguises and the underlying message regarding social change during the eighteenth century. According to Booth, “Haywood also explores the

The narrator is unknown to the readers but describes Catherine’s, and other characters inner thoughts, that would otherwise be reserved to them. Although it is Catherine that is made the main focus, “Catherine’s feelings, as she got into the carriage, were in a very unsettled state; divided between regret for the loss of one great pleasure, and the hope of soon enjoying another”, her narrative representation is sympathetic and pleasant but the third-person structure also allows for Catherine’s nature to be presented without confusing the