If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, why have women in both literature and in real life during the 18th century been criticized for the ways in which they chose to live their lives? Women were kept to high standards – things like goddess-like beauty, pale skin, soft curls – and when men – poets such as Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope – see that women really aren’t such ethereal creatures, they mock and scoff them in their poetic works. Swift and Pope immortalize ideas that women are vain, caring only about fashion and how they look. They also make poetic claims that women aren’t very intelligent because of their obsession with beauty, and, perhaps because the female sex is such a slave to fashion in the minds of Pope and Swift, that they aren’t really human. Thankfully, female authors weren’t docile in their argument. Poets such as Eliza Haywood and Lady Mary Montagu bite back at their male counterparts with scathing retorts and revolutionary ideas. Haywood, in fact, creates a very strong female character in her controversial text Fantomina. She – both Fantomina and Haywood – are very well aware of the fact that she’s a woman, and Haywood creates situations for Fantomina that are very bold for a woman’s role and very daring as well. With the advent of such a revolutionary female character, Haywood creates controversy against the ideas that Pope and Swift have against women – ideas that women only care about how they look instead of what they think about.
Haywood basically creates the modern woman in her novella; characteristics that include Fantomina’s curiosity in things that aren’t usually proper for a young lady (things like prostitution (2567)).
Readers first meet the character as a nameless lady – “a lady of distinguished birth, beauty, wit, and spirit (2566)”. Right away, readers are introduced to a female outside the normality of other authors’ ideas: Fantomina (as she is later named) sees a prostitute at a theater house surrounded by men, and right away Fantomina wonders what it would be like to be doted on so much (2567). She wonders what it would be like if she didn’t have to worry about silly things like honor and propriety – things that most women of distinguished wealth and/or birth worry about. These women are the ones that Pope and Swift use in their works; however, their portrayals are more biased than just a noblewoman. Pope has his female lead – Belinda – primp and preen for what seems like hours on end in what he calls the “Sacred rites of Pride (line 128)”. These “sacred rites” are the acts of applying various powders and creams to beautify herself. But Haywood makes Fantomina better than Belinda because Haywood doesn’t mention right away Fantomina’s dressing table. Instead, the reader is made aware of Fantomina’s curiosity and how she acts to satisfy that curiosity. She becomes a prostitute, a maid, a widow, and Celia just to be able to keep the man she was first able to obtain – Beauplaisir (2567-83). Ultimately, Fantomina sacrifices everything for Beauplaisir – she becomes pregnant from amorous sessions with him and is sent to a convent for the remainder of her days (2584).
Out of fear because of the lack of normality or predictability in Fantomina, Swift and Pope would say that the woman got exactly what she deserved at the end of the tale; it was her fault that she got pregnant. Fantomina should never have been so uncouth in her sexuality and Pope and Swift would harass both the character Fantomina and the author Haywood heavily for the ways that Haywood chose to portray Fantomina. But woman such as Lady Mary Montagu would disagree. Montagu would argue that Fantomina is a woman and has every right that any male character would have, deserves every opportunity that men have: that men would not be slighted against if they were to go out of their way in disguises to get the woman they longed for; that would be considered romantic and noteworthy. But because Fantomina is a woman, she is crazy and wanton for her love-sick actions.
Pope and Swift would still scoff; they seem to enjoy making a mockery of what women go through each day. Perhaps the two male poets don’t seem to understand the pressure that women are put under; they seem to think all women care about is make-up and ribbons and powders. In his poem “The Rape of the Lock”, Pope says that “Here flies of pins extend their shining rows/ Puffs, powders, patches, Bibles, billet-doux” (line 139-39). Swift somewhat agrees in his poem “The Lady’s Dressing Room”, stating that “The goddess from her chamber issues/ Arrayed in lace, brocade, and tissues” (line 3-4). Both poets say that women put beauty and beauty products on the same tier as religion and the Bible, which was considered the most holy of all books. Both poets insinuate that women put cosmetics before God – that in that act, women are blasphemous. Haywood doesn’t seem to show the same vanity in her text as Pope and Swift have in theirs. Instead of a vanity, readers are introduced first to the image of Fantomina as she “perceived several gentlemen extremely pleased themselves with entertaining a woman who sat in a corner of a pit… She still thought of it, however; and the longer she reflected on it, the greater was her wonder of men, some of whom she knew were accounted to have wit, should have tastes so very depraved” (2566). So, instead of a puff or a powder, readers are right away introduced to Fantomina’s curious nature. In this, Haywood shows a lack of vanity.
Likewise, Montagu would agree; she would argue in her poem “The Reasons That Induced Dr. Swift to Write a Poem Called The Lady’s Dressing Room”, that “Men their talents still mistaking/ Poor Pope philosophy displays on/ With so much rhyme and little reason (line 39. 45-6,47). The mocked has become the mocker in Montagu’s response to Swift’s poem “The Lady’s Dressing Room”. Montagu also says that men are just as clueless as the vain women they portray. She says “Alas for wretched humankind/ With learning mad, with wisdom blind!” (line 35-36). While men are so consumed with learning, they learn about the wrong aspects of the woman’s life, and therefore the female sex isn’t concerned with the things they absorb in their minds; only the creams for their skins. Montagu says in the aforementioned quote that men are the ignorant ones.
Haywood has Fantomina use her mind to access and utilize her beauty. Because she plans to keep Beauplaisir to herself, she needs to develop an ingenious plan. Surely this is no feat for a simple-minded make-up obsessed female. That is why Haywood has Fantomina disguise herself and her countenance in so many different ways (2567-83). Pope would rather have Belinda stress over the fact that her curl had been cut – wishing instead for an actual physical rape – instead of creating a new style for women (line 145-78). In the creation of a new hair-do, Pope would still be able to have the touch of vanity he thinks of all women as well as show that a woman can be intelligent and quick on her feet, as Haywood would have readers see in Fantomina.
Pope and Swift think that women don’t speak openly because of their loves of liquid creams and stain ribbons. In such manor of thought – the make-up and fashion – women are safe in their niches and have no worry about getting pregnant like Fantomina did. But Montagu would argue that at least Fantomina used her mind and took a chance for love. If a man would have taken Fantomina’s place, his actions would have been deemed romantic and gallant. Montagu thought – or hinted – that men were sexist in that “None strive to know their porper merit/ But strain for wisdom, beauty, spirit/ And lose the praise that is their due/ While they’ve the impossible view” (45-52). She says that all men want is a pretty girl and when they can’t have that – or they see the true manor of womanhood – they toss women aside – women like Fantomina who think and feel and act. Because Strephon saw what his love Celia was really like in “The Lady’s Dressing Room”, the sweat and oil and smells and washes and ointments, and especially the chamber pot, he becomes repulsed and turns away (lines 24,25,34,36,118). Did Strephon really think that Celia didn’t use the bathroom? Perhaps, then, Montagu would argue that Srephon is the twit for not thinking Celia did something so human as actually using the toilet – “Oh! Celia, Celia, Celia shits!” (line 118).
Pope and Swift think that women have a place and should stay there – a place of make-up and fashion. But Montagu would disagree. She would argue that Haywood was right in making Fantomina as bold and intelligent as she was in the story. It was a huge step for the voice and development of both the 18th Century female author and female character.
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