Eliza Haywod was herself an actress and a playwright. What role does the theatre play in the novel?
What advantages does the role of a prostitute give to Fantomina in her relationship with Beauplaisir over her role as a lady?
Do the readers ever learn Fantomina's real name? Why/why not? What does it tell us about her as a character? Is the pseudonym Fantomina a significant one?
What personas does Fantomina adopt? Can you work out the rule according to which they follow one another? How do they differ in terms of being sexually available to Beauplaisir?
In the 18th century, masquerade was a popular form of entertainment. What benefits did it offer in comparison with regular balls? What benefits does Fantomina draw from her game? What are its disadvantages?
The plot of Fantomina revolves around her frequent changes of clothes and identity. How can they be interpreted in view of the following quote from a contemporary feminist critic?
The masquerade has to be understood as what women do in order to recuperate some element
of desire, to participate in man's desire, but at the price of renouncing their own. In the
masquerade, they submit to the dominant economy of desire in an attempt to remain 'on ihe
market' in spite of everything. But they are there as objects for sexual enjoyment, not as those
who enjoy....
The masquerade of femininity. . is woman's entry into a system of values that is not hers, and
in which she can 'appear' and circulate only when enveloped in lhe needs/desires/fantasies of
others, namely, men. (Luce Irigaray, This Sex Which Is Not One)
Compare the dress-up scenes (especially the one where Fantomina poses as Celia) with Pamela dressing as a country girl. In what way could Richardson be indebted to Haywood and in what respects he differed?
How realistic is Fantomina's freedom for a high-ranking unmarried young woman of 1724? And how realistic are the stories of her personas (a country maid seduced by a rich man, a widow in danger of being robbed of her inheritance)?
Beauplaisir sends within a short time a number of letters: to Fantomina and Widow Bloomer, assuring them of his love, and to Incognita, claiming the same thing even before he sees her. And yet, according to the author, he “had a greater share of good nature than most of his sex”. How do you interpret this?
The adventure with Incognita is the least satisfying for Beauplaisir; he was “so much out of Humour . . . at the Disappointment of his curiosity, that he resolved never to make a second Visit . . . [and] he went out of the House determined never to re-enter it”. What makes him so angry?
Why doesn't Beauplaisir ever recognize Fantomina?
In what way does Fantomina's subvert/revert the traditional narrative of the male seducer and the seduced maiden? (victor/victim)
Are we, as readers, meant to admire Fantomina's ingenuity or deplore her amorous impulses?