the least romanitic reading of the text

In class Tuesday there seemed to be consensus that in the end Fantomina was dealt an unfair hand. This sentiment rings true in the blogs as well, with the author of http://stevericketts2.wordpress.com/ finding the ending “depressing”, the author of http://novelbeginnings.wordpress.com/ was “disappointed” by the story and http://mellissa3205.wordpress.com/ was just plain “dumbfounded.” And while I do agree wholeheartedly that Fantomina contained one of the most unfulfilling endings I’ve ever encountered, am I the only one that finds Fantomina’s actions throughout the story really nasty? From what I can tell Fantomina is, for lack of a better term, a sociopath. If you find my assessment harsh then check out this Profile of the Sociopath and judge for yourself.

http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html

Superficial charm? Check. Manipulative and conning? Check. Pathological lying? Check.  Need for stimulation? Quadruple check! Promiscuous Sexual Behaviour/Infidelity? Don’t even get me started. While this might constitute the least romantic reading of the text possible, I can’t help but wonder, what is a suitable ending for a story about a rich, young, female sociopath in 18^th Century Europe?

I suppose the reader is provoked to (and certainly a modern audience is conditioned to) expect that Fantomina and Beauplasir would end up together and happy somehow in the end, but let’s be a little more realistic for a moment. Regardless of Beauplasir’s behaviour, which is admittedly pretty disgusting, Fantomina deceived, misled and trapped a complete stranger with seemingly no regard for his or her personal well-being. Creepy.

I’m glad this sort of romantic deception is a thing of the past.

http://www.mauryshow.com/

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