Fantomina; female strength

While reading this story, I was entertained as well as intrigued, all the while wondering how the story would end and the portion that would be allotted to this mysterious female character, identified by the author in the title of the story as Fantomina. Initially, it seemed to me like the story was not going anywhere definite. By this I mean that it seemed that the writer's intent was to tell of a young woman who seems to be of some means and some class, who in her boredom decided to explore the life of a "street-woman" and where that led her. But as the story unfolded, it seemed to tell of a young woman who aware of her power over the opposite sex used it to the fullest.

The story seemed to tell of a woman who in her free time and maybe even loneliness (if I dare surmise so much from what the author provided) became attached to a particular gentleman and strove to keep him at all costs, not necessarily to have him as a respectable man that could stand by her side as a husband. Her distinct qualities including her apparent strength, cunning, art of manipulation, independence of thought and unique manner of accomplishing her goals almost completely evaporated into thin air towards the end and she came under the whims and direction of her mother as the story came to a close.

The story had me pondering why the name Fantomina stuck to the main character more strongly than Celia or Mrs. Bloomer, as the author used that name as the title to her story. It had me wondering much more, because we are not given any reason to believe that Fantomina was her real name. It could be possible that the author was showing the power of first impressions, the first words spoken from one to another, and the power they have to influence the light in which an individual will be viewed. The first name our main character gives us is Fantomina and that is what we learn to call her regardless of whether or not this is her name. Even the presence of her mother later in the story could not clarify that particular mystery.

Also, in my opinion, Fantomina is introduced as a whimsical person, who gave full vent to her curiosity without thinking too far into the future. If by chance her character did think into the future, I think she must have had a nonchalant attitude, thinking that regardless of what she did, the future would somehow shape itself separately from her actions. I think that in her pursuit of Beauplasir, her thoughts were only filled with the pleasure of the moment. I see her as a person that embraced instant gratification. While she chased after Beauplasir, she seems charmed by her ability to tactfully disguise herself, and sees herself as "More Pruden[t] than all her Sex beside" (Fantomina 234). She seems to bask in her, for the most part, self-acclaimed wisdom, and uses her brashness and ability to pursue what she wants till she possesses it, to define herself.

Again, I wondered what would befall this apparently decisive "go-getter," who knew what she wanted and uses whatever means to achieve her goals when the story came to a close. The entrance of her mother grabbed my attention because the tone as well as the path of the story changed pronouncedly. Fantomina lost her influence, seized from treading along the path she had been following and bowed to her mother's authority. It was almost as if the earlier strength that had been portrayed and that we had learned to respect (whether or not it was admirable) had been sapped from her. She resigns herself to do her mother's bidding without resistance, as is shown when her mother commands her to reveal the name of her lover, and forces her to look up and explain the truth to Beauplasir and herself (Fantomina 247). Fantomina at this point seems to be an ordinary 18th century child taught to obey and respect one's parents without challenging orders or negotiating parental decisions.

However, it could not be completely fairly said that Fantomina lost all her power and her influence when the story ended for she did not lose her power over Beauplasir. She did not reveal the truth about herself until she was compelled by a strength that was higher than her own - her mother. Even after her child is born, a little girl, Beauplasir is still not free from the power of Fantomina extended in her little female child.