This book is written from the perspective of young, single, wealthy adults who have nothing else to do but write letters and journals about the drama in their lives. An entertaining way of looking at life for Gentleman and Women of the Victorian era. Some class discussion will be required to provide context, and vocabulary support. Given the vague nature of the stories in the text the teacher will need to scaffold the lesson and the reading to ensure everyone has a full understanding of the subject being studied.

Until I read Eliza Haywood, when I thought of early 18th century British literature, it was the dry and tedious stuff that came to mind. Yanno, the pamphlets by Locke or Rousseau, or even a dustier, ickier version of Dickens or Eliot. I wasn't fully aware of how the culture was so different prior to the Romantics and Queen Victoria, but if anything proves me wrong, it's Haywood.

Fantomina is the title work for this collection, and I remember it most clearly of the works. It is bawdy and hilarious and absolutely nothing like the stodgy Victorian novels of a hundred years later, or even the didactic stories from someone like Penelope Aubin.

It's from the Augustan Era of British literature, which is characterised by the development of the novel and satire, plus other things which can all be found at the helpful Wikipedia page. What this means for Fantomina is that it makes no efforts at providing a moral and is terribly funny.

The basic plot is that an aristocratic woman is jealous of the way lower class women are allowed to behave, especially the prostitutes. She'd like to be able to behave without the constrictions of her class and see what it's like, so she dresses like a prostitute with a mask and accidentally engages a client. Rather than reveal herself as an aristocrat, she gives the name of "Fantomina" and rents a room so that she need not break the appointment. She lets herself be talked into sex and enjoys it so much that she continues to get into costume and meet her new lover - until he grows weary of her.

Not one to just let him get away, Fantomina creates another persona and tricks Beauplaisir into sleeping with her - while still maintaining the previous one and the relationship it entailed. (That is to say, he cheats on Fantomina with Fantomina.) But men are fickle and this one is no exception, so goes the story, leading to Fantomina creating two additional personas and tricking her lover into staying with her twice more - again, while still keeping up with the other personas/relationships.

Eventually, Fantomina grows tired of the ruses and decides she's had enough of Beauplaisir, and what happens to finish the story is probably the best part of all.

Eliza Haywood swiftly became one of my favorite authors after reading Fantomina, and I'm looking forward to reading more of her writing. ( )