In the world of Bridgerton everyone reads the scandalous gossip columns of Lady Whistledown. That Lady Whistedown’s acid pen belongs to none other than the ever-polite Penelope Featherington proved a shocking twist, but not one without historical precedent.
The history of 18th-century print is littered with striking instances in which women, like Featherington, used cheap print – such as magazines and periodicals – to deliver stunning satirical blows to the male-dominated status quo. They also used them to signal solidarity to the women living quietly and politely within society.
Eliza Haywood (1693-1756) was such a woman. Haywood’s best-known novella, Fantomina (1725), tells the story of a young lady who falls for a dashing gallant who, unfortunately, doesn’t like sleeping with the same woman twice. Our heroine therefore adopts a series of disguises so she can sleep with him again and again.
