A Maze of Love

For this week’s assigned reading, we are given the challenge of reading Fantomina; or, Love in a Maze by the great Elizabeth Haywood. I was not totally sure what to think before I started reading but I have to say overall it was a very interesting read. Judging this book by it’s cover, which I usually do, it looked like another Cinderella-esque story about a boring girl that was trying to become the belle of the ball.

It didn’t take too long to figure out that this story was going in a different direction than I had first anticipated. The girl eventually known as Fantomina first tries to win the affection of “Beauplaisir” by pretending to be a protistute. The man rapes the young women, who in turn, falls in love with him. As interesting as this sounds already, the story really starts to pick up and becomes something that can often be found on daytime talk shows. Beauplaisir appears to be bored with Fantomina and starts to travel. Fantomina follows Beauplaisir to his various destinations, pretending to be a different woman each and every time. As beauplaisir continues, Fantomina keeps changing, until the two eventually become bored with each other.

This novel displays many different morals and themes. The first of which can be female independance. It appears that if Fantomina wants something, specifically Beauplaisir, she will not stop at anything to get it. I am not totally sure on how women acted during this time, but the behaviour and attitudes posessed by Fantomina do not seem common to me during this time. Another thing I do not seem to understand is the mentality of Beauplaisir. I couldn’t understand how he didn’t figure out that he was getting played the whole time. I mean, I know she disguised herself, but you can only change so much.

Towards the ending of the book, I really wasn’t feeling these two characters anymore, which why I was somewhat pleased with the ending. The promiscuous activity of Fantomina finally catches up with her when she finds out that she is pregnant. Beauplaisir also hears of the news of how he was played, but does not seem to overly care. In the end, Fantomina ends up in a monasterie, placed there by her mother, for the sins in which she had commited.

I believe Fantomina to be a character, used by Haywood, to demonstrate the consequences of making the wrong choices. She even goes as far to show us that fun can last but will eventually catch up with you. The importance of this story is that the same exact values can be used in today’s society. I can’t count the amount of people who make stupid decisions with no fear of reprecussions. All and all, I enjoyed the story of Fantomina and recommend it to anyone looking for a quick moral story.

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