Eliza Haywood

Not only was Eliza Haywood an English novelist, she was also a successful playwright and journalist. Little is known about her early life, and most of her works were published anonymously, yet Haywood was an important figure in the history of British women's literature. Haywood's earliest work were immensely popular predecessors of the modern romance novel, but she also wrote satirical plays and novels whose themese foreshadowed a later generation of English literary writers, including Jane Austen, and the Bronte sisters. Haywood was said to hold the attention of her audience through her storytelling and some of her books were among some of the most successful and even controversial works that were published during the first half of the 18th century.

Fantomina, or Love in a Maze, is about a woman who changes her appearance and identity to be with the man she loves, Beauplasir. Through her use of changing her identity, she establishes a sense of power over a man, which is something that has not really been seen. Due to Fantomina's rank, she is unable to pursue Beauplasir which urges her to change her appearance/identity. She goes through four different identities: a prostitute Fantomina, a maid Celia, a widow, and a rich woman. Beauplasir is unaware of these identity changes meaning he is unaware she has been the same woman. Through this, she proves a point that men's primary focus is sex. She becomes pregnant and has to reveal this to her mother and Beauplasir. She also reveals what she had been doing to him the whole time: changing her identity. Her mother sends her off to a French monastery because of her manipulative actions.

Haywood asserts a sense of female power over men, while also portraying female obedience and suppression. Fantomina exercises her ability to control men, but at some point loses this control.