A young lady of distinguished birth, beauty, wit, and spirit happened to be in a box one night at the playhouse, where, though there were a great number of celebrated toasts, she perceived several gentlemen extremely pleased themselves with entertaining a woman who sat in a corner of the pit[...]This excited a curiosity in her to know in what manner these creatures were addressed[...]Therefore she thought it not in the least a fault to put to practice a little whim which came immediately into her head, to dress herself as near as she could in the fashion of those women[...]
Fantomina by Eliza Haywood
Haywood’s exposition to the novella presents the basis of experimental reasoning that can be observed in Locke’s essay, “Of Ideas.” In it, he writes of how we get ideas: we get ideas from reflection of the observed object. Similarly, Fantomina, in her seeming blank slate innocence, observes a phenomenon occurring between external objects (gentlemen and prostitutes), experiences sensations of excitement and curiosity, reflects on these observations and sensations as suggested by her “thought”, and has an idea to further her understanding through experimentation.
While this exposition presents Fantomina as a heroin, her curiosity is naive through her fascination with men’s pleasures and the possibility of engaging in prostitution, foreshadowing an unfortunate ending. The genre of amatory fiction is a formulaic genre that presents an innocent, naive women, whose end is unfortunate as she is deceived by men. Haywood subverts the generic conventions, yet still displays the misogynistic trope of women’s incompetence.