Amatory Fiction

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Fantomina

Eliza Haywood

http://www.fabricattic.com/Masks%20T0511290.jpg

•“While he thinks to fool me, [he] is himself the only beguiled Person.”

http://www.art-connection.de/masken/page/english/venezian.carnival.2.html

Amatory Fiction•Fictions of erotic intrigue;

focused on love, usually sexual love; secular

•Popular in Britain in the late 17th and early 18th centuries

• Influenced by Continental Romance tradition, and French scandal fiction

•Often written by women; popular with women

•Often political

•Precursor to the novel

•Ancestor to Romance novels, “Bodice-Rippers”, etc.

http://growabrain.typepad.com/growabrain/images/romance.jpg

Eliza Haywood

•1693–1756

•many biographical details unclear

•Long career; a prolific writer in many genres

•The “Great Arbitress of Passion”

http://www.unbsj.ca/arts/english/jones/mt/images/eliza.gif

•A “Shameless Scribbler” (Alexander Pope)

•From scandalous to decorous

http://www.maskitalia.com/massimo.htm

•Frontispiece to The Female Spectator, a periodical for women edited by Haywood.

Masquerade

•European tradition of Carnival: festivals of liberating anonymity when the sexes, and social classes, mixed with relative freedom

•Venetian Carnival the most famous

http://www.ellencline.com/theatre.html

• 17th couple in carnival masks

F.Bertelli: "Magnifico e Cortigiana" - (1642)

http://www.delpiano.com/carnival/html/magnifico.html

• Moretta (mask worn by women, secured with a button held between the teeth)

G.Grevembroch: "Mascara" - (18th century)

http://www.delpiano.com/carnival/html/moretta.html

• Group of masked men and women, late 18thc

http://www.delpiano.com/carnival/html/games.html

G.DePian: highlights from C.Goldoni's play "Le Donne Gelose" - (1791)

• Contemporary photos of masked women at the Venetian Carnival

http://www.delpiano.com/carnival/html/gallery.html

http://www.delpiano.com/carnival/html/gallery.html

http://www.delpiano.com/carnival/html/gallery.html

http://www.aurumxxl.com/carnival_2.htm

• Casanova (2005)

Masks

•Women often went to the theatre masked

•Masks in the theatre were associated with prostitutes and courtesans

http://www.unitedmaskandparty.com/Masks/images/feather_mask_t09.JPG

• Masked woman and man in period costume

http://www.meetingeurope.com/costumes/files/18_century_costume_2.htm

To consider:• Is Fantomina in

charge of her own destiny?

•Does the story present a radical view of relations between women and men?

•How can we interpret the ending?

http://www.maskitalia.com/lucia.htm

http://worldoflongmire.com/features/romance_novels/