Since feudal times, class has played a clearly formative role within the social structure in England. Whether a person resides in the upper class, middle class, or lower class can determine both their political influence, economic success, and social freedoms. In early novels, characters were expected to follow these clearly defined societal rules in a way that mimicked a perfect class-governed pseudo-reality. This meant scrupulously adhering to class expectations and acting in a way that did not exceed set limits. In some ways, this adherence to societal norms created specific archetypes that minimized realism, as European society in the 1700s had many individuals living extremely contradictory double lives. If this is not recognized, it could prevent the author from producing fictional characters that feel true to life in the modern sense. Truly realistic characters are produced from a balance of rejection and submission to classroom expectations, and attention to how these rejections and submissions affect the character's perception of the world in which they exist. Critically consider how this balance affects the character's actions and interactions. can reveal complexity that is not clearly visible at first glance. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Eliza Haywood's novel Fantomina begins to discuss this dynamic of rejection of social status that plays a role in characterization. Introduced as a lady, Fantomina begins the novel by dressing as a prostitute and venturing to a performance alone to attract the attention of a man she had been seeing. Readers don't really know what motivates her to do this, but can infer that humans often want what they can't get - other areas of life seem rather attractive on the other side. Fantomina is young, curious about how the other half lives and naturally fascinated by the male gaze and the attention a prostitute receives for her favors. With this in mind, Fantomina does not fully understand the expectations of a prostitute and the freedoms she gives up to receive this type of attention. At one point, Haywood states that Fantomina "rejoiced to think that she had taken the precaution of procuring a lodging, to which she thought she could invite him, without running any risk, either to her virtue or to her reputation." (Haywood 45). ). Here, Fantomina still believes she can save her honor, or her virginity, as women of a higher class understand honor as that of a man who believes it is his job to offer her pleasure for a price. Her embrace of the role of a lady, even dressed as a prostitute, demonstrates realism and develops a paradox of character, which in turn creates an underlying complexity. His true character, whether driven by his social status or an intrinsic moral system, is deeply torn between lack of affection, courtship and love, but unwilling to lose his honor and regress to being treated like 'an ordinary prostitute. Beauplaisir "believed her to be a mistress" and based his interactions and expectations of her on this fact, preoccupied only with the thought that she "would be much more expensive than he had at first anticipated" due to her mind and his intelligent appearance. behavior (Haywood 45). Overall, by playing the prostitute, Fantomina loses part of what makes her a woman socially, thus creating anotherlayer of his fascinating character. She is both a fallen woman and a perfectly preserved lady because the character of Fantomina offers her a hidden identity which, in turn, gives her freedom from responsibility for her sexual promiscuities. While Fantomina's social fluidity helps create an interesting internal conflict, Gulliver's distance from structural society due to his travels in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels allows him to see the barbaric and sordid nature of humans, adding thus complexity and interiority to his character. The satirical elements implemented in Gulliver's Travels establish the biggest difference between the two works, so the realism of the characters is not really comparable in the traditional sense. However, these two characters gain complexity due to their rejection of social constraints. Analyzing Gulliver at the beginning of his work, he represents middle-class consumerism and social privilege. Swift makes Gulliver from the beginning a well-educated, middle-class man from a good family lineage. Despite the relatively random nature of this information, it gives a clear voice and creates a sort of false credibility due to one's higher social standing. Like Fantomina to a certain extent, and most certainly Moll Flanders within Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders, Gulliver is very concerned with material goods. Often he attempts to exchange money for things such as protection (like in Brobdignag) and becomes completely confused when the giant places no particular value on him. Gulliver “took a purse of gold” from his pocket and “humbly presented it to him,” then continued to do so even after the Brobdigignagian seemed to have no understanding of the objects Gulliver presented (Swift 74). This shows that Gulliver believes that money has some form of intrinsic value beyond the purchase of material goods and services, as if money can bring peace or happiness, a distinctly consumerist idea. Even on Lilliput, Gulliver perfectly records every possession the Lilliputians take from him upon his landing on the island, and boasts of his ability to preserve certain items by claiming that he possessed "a private pocket which escaped their search" (Swift 31). This consumerist nature manifests itself again when Gulliver is offered an official title within Lilliput, thereby increasing his ranking and social status. During Gulliver's stay in Lilliput, he grows very little as a character. He remains in the mold of an awkward bourgeois acquiring the prestige he thought he had earned by birth, questioning himself very little and adhering strictly to the code. It is only at the very end of his time with the Brobdignagians and with the Houyhnhhnm people that he begins to better understand the pettiness of human nature, thus gaining self-awareness and gaining complexity and interiority. . It is in Houyhnhnm that he realizes the incompetence of human nature. Gulliver states that he "had neither the strength nor the agility of an ordinary Yahoo" and "could neither run with speed nor climb trees" and that "Yahoos were known to hate each other more than they did." no matter what other species of animal” (Swift 219). This memory causes Gulliver to fall from the high pedestal he sits on in Lilliput to the lowest scum on Earth. It doesn't even have the practical features of a Yahoo that provide protection and functionality. Instead, he realizes humanity's capacity for destruction, attributing to humanity the ability to provoke civil war. Gulliver's master also states that "nothing made the Yahoos more odious than their indistinct appetite to devour.