It is no surprise that the function of men and women in a society plays a huge role in the literary pieces that would be born in a specific period. The roles of both men and women in the 18th century, for example, may even align with those of the following century. For example, both Eliza Haywood's Fantomina: Love in a Maze (1735) and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) depict women as nothing more than objects. In Haywood's story, Fantomina is described as a "Victory" after being attacked by Beauplaisir while in Shelley's novel, Elizabeth is presented, after Caroline's death, as a "beautiful gift" for Victor. However, because they were written a century apart, the two texts also demonstrate a difference in response to the roles held in each of the societies in which they are set. Both Haywood and Shelley criticize the traditional roles of women during their time period. but while Fantomina challenges traditional female roles, the women of Frankenstein support them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay One of the ways in which Fantomina challenges a woman's role in British society is by changing her appearance from a woman of higher social status to a woman of lower status: a prostitute. When Haywood states that there is no authority figure nor anyone that Fantomina knew in town to be accountable to, he is suggesting that a woman should not behave that way, but the protagonist is still able to get away with it (Haywood 36 ). At the Playhouse, she resides in a box in the theater gallery, which is a key symbol of wealth and class, but as a prostitute, Fantomina seamlessly enters the Pit, where prostitutes mingle with men, in a "free and unrestrained" environment . d way” (Haywood 36). This is where Haywood reveals the impact of a person's behavior and clothing on their social status. When the protagonist changes both behavior and clothing, she is no longer a "Lady", but a "Woman". However, with the downgrading of her status, she is able to experience a new sense of freedom, where she also mixes with men. One of the men Fantomina converses with is Beauplaisir and, in doing so, she challenges the social restriction of women pursuing men, even taking long stays outside her city. While a woman of humble origins possessed the freedom to interact with any man she desired, a woman did not. Fantomina had already spoken to Beauplaisir, but “then her Quality and her reputed Virtue,” or in other words, her virtuous state, prevented her from making advances (Haywood 36). Since he is now unrecognizable, Fantomina finds pleasure in conversing freely with him. However, if an authority figure or someone Fantomina knew had been around, she would not have attempted to chase Beauplaisir to the Playhouse as herself. Furthermore, as her feelings for him grow stronger, Fantomina goes to great lengths to win Beauplaisir's affection, especially by embarking on "wacky adventures" under the false pretense of visiting a relative in the countryside (Haywood 52). The protagonist's sternly virtuous mother suddenly arrives after hearing rumors about her daughter that would limit the enormous freedom she was exploiting. This suggests that British women were prohibited from traveling outside the city and had to be kept under taboo behavior. Finally, Fantomina challenges the social expectation of unmarried women's sexuality as a restrained quality. Under her disguises as Fantomina, Incognita and Celia, the protagonist engages in sexual intercourse several times, which she calls "Virtue" and "Honour", with Beauplaisir(Haywood 38). While in 18th century Britain unmarried men exercised the freedom to have intercourse before marriage, women were expected to remain virgins until marriage, which is evident in Fantomina's deliberate plan to hide her charades for marriage .security of his reputation (Haywood 40). If women had done otherwise, they would have been ineligible to marry because they would have “nothing to give” to their husbands (Haywood 39). By having intercourse before marriage, the protagonist establishes a new sense of freedom that she will use as a way to manipulate Beauplaisir while she is Incognita. Typically, a man has more power than a woman, but in this case the protagonist uses her sexuality as a way to gain some control over him. Incognita had him “always delirious, wild, impatient, longing, dying” and this newfound power that the protagonist now possessed differed from the stereotypical image of power between men and women (Haywood 50). Frankenstein reveals that it was a crucial responsibility for women to provide happiness to their male counterparts. Elizabeth adheres to this rule, believing that it is an “imperious duty” to give happiness to her uncles, cousins, and Victor and is “determined to fulfill her duties with the utmost exactness,” even after her aunt's death (Shelley 26). Shelley's use of the words “imperious” and “exactness” suggests that Elizabeth's priority was not to bring happiness to herself, but to the men in her life. It also shows that women were expected to be forgetful of themselves, especially their emotions, compared to men. To fulfill her duties, Elizabeth was expected to sweep her feelings under the rug, as if they were insignificant and insubstantial. Another example where Elizabeth demonstrates her dedication to providing happiness to her male colleagues is when she writes to Victor, even after suspecting him of betrayal: “Be happy, my friend; and if you obey me this request, you will be satisfied that nothing on earth will have the power to interrupt my tranquility” (Shelley 135). The word “cheat” can be defined as acquiring feelings for one person while being committed to another. Elizabeth shows a lack of anger or sadness when she accuses Victor of loving and seeing another while he is committed to her and urges him to seek his own happiness. This would bring Elizabeth “peace of mind” and when she states that nothing in the world would be able to ruin her peace of mind, Elizabeth insinuates that Victor's happiness is the source of her eternal happiness. Therefore, Shelley indicates that women's happiness depends on men's happiness. Shelley's purpose of the character of Elizabeth in the novel was to accentuate the effects of Victor's transgressive science, which ultimately leads to her death. While Elizabeth is depicted as mere collateral damage in a confrontation between Victor and his creation, Margaret Saville demonstrates no significance to any of the main characters and is only included to enhance the plot. Women were presented as passive figures whose presence, or lack thereof, emphasized the dominance of a male voice. Although Shelley introduces Margaret as the novel's first character, she provides little to no information regarding Margaret's personal life, even though it is to her that Walton's letters are directed. Furthermore, she is not even granted a voice because she only reads letters and never responds even when Walton informs her of the harsh climate, which could endanger her life, thus proving that she is passive. For example, Walton writes to his sister, “You will not hear of my destruction, and you will eagerly await my return” (Shelley 153). As a result, readers can infer as they must.