Fantomina

Fantomina: Or, Love in a Maze (1725) is a novel by Eliza Haywood. Blending tragedy and comedy, Haywood revolutionizes the novel by turning the common trope of the persecuted maiden on its head. A story of individual autonomy and sexual freedom, Fantomina: Or, Love in a Maze is considered a prime example of the popular genre of amatory fiction, which often exposes the imbalance between male and female desire in a patriarchal society. Fantomina is an independent woman, a prostitute for whom desire is a powerful tool. Celia, an innocent country girl, is a young maiden unfamiliar with the ways of love. Mrs. Bloomer, a widow, knows what it is to love and to lose. Incognita is a mysterious masked woman who meets with men in the dead of night. Each of these women is involved sexually with Beauplaisir, a vain and handsome aristocrat. But they have something else in common-all four lovers are, in fact, the same woman, an unnamed narrator whose infatuation with freedom and innate curiosity lead her on a quest to experience desire in a multitude of ways. This edition of Eliza Haywood's Fantomina: Or, Love in a Maze is a classic of English literature reimagined for modern readers.

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