SHAPERS OF FEMALE IDENTITY IN ELIZA HAYWOOD'S FANTOMINA

Eliza Haywood, who shared the literary scene with authors like Defoe, Swift and Pope, was the most prolific female writer of the eighteenth century. A fine observer of humans and human relationships, she wrote frankly about sexuality and provided powerful insights in the complexity of romance and marriage. Fantomina, often referred to as "novella" or "short-story" by scholars, follows the story of a heroine who disguises herself as four different women, assuming four different identities to seduce the man she loves. The article analyses the elements that contribute to the development of female identity in Eliza Haywood's Fantomina focussing on concepts such as body, name, female, human interactions.