The Language Of Nudity Gendered Voice Of A Womens...

Eliza Haywood has been praised for developing a form of language that expresses passion in Love in Excess. One would deem that the language is femininely sexualized to allude to the overall theme of the novel: a women’s confined desire. In one article, Tiffany Potter states, in The Language of Feminised Sexuality: gendered voice of Eliza Haywood s Love in Excess and Fantomina, that Love in Excess is â€Å"culturally determined to be feminine and therefore private as [Haywood] pushes it into domains public and therefore masculine.† This statement is critical in terms of the language used to express passion because it contextualizes the power of femininity and desire; the term masculine refers to the females’ ability to express as freely as†¦show more content†¦Throughout the novel, Haywood creates a band between desire and language, and when sexual satisfaction is inappropriate, written satisfaction is substituted. For example, as a virtuous and ruined wo man, Amena may not be permitted to have intercourse with D’elmont, however she uses letters as a substitute. Haywood deliberately stages the relationship between language and passion through confinement. For many of Haywood’s heroines; however, confinement does not guarantee the imprisoning of female desire as in private spaces of confinement, the women continue to express both language and desire. Language is used as the precursor of and a substitute for passion; language and passion seem to stimulate one another. Also, Haywood’s heroines find, in containment, a range of emotions and behaviors that are unavailable to them in public domains, where the demands of femininity oppress the expression of passion more strictly than in private. Haywood uses confinement and the promiscuity of confined language to show that women do take control of the seductive narrative. In addition, confined spaces are where women can body forth desire through language; for example, Am ena openly writes that â€Å"†¦these consecrated wall, nor iron gates keep out, sleeping, or waking you are ever with me, you mingle with my most solemn devotions; and while I pray to Heaven that I may think on