How is curiosity personified in early-modern literature, and why? (Response week 3)

“She could not conceal the sudden Rack which all at once invaded her; or had her Tongue been mute, her wildly rolling Eyes, the Distortion of her Features, and Convulsions which shook her whole Frame, in spite of her, would have reveal’d she labour’d under some terrible Shock of Nature.” – p.288 Fantomina (Haywood)

“In the early modern period, when curiosity rose to a peak of frenzied attention, it took on distinct historical shapes. From 1660 to 1820, [curious people] asked questions that challenged the status quo. They inquired into forbidden topics […] In reaction, conservative literary culture represented these queries as social or intellectual transgressions that were parallel to the physical transgression of oddly formed people. Curious people thus appeared as monsters, “queers,” and curiosities.” – p.2 Curiosity (Benedict)

            The protagonist of Fantomina, a victim of her own sexual curiosity for the man she loves, uses that same curiosity, naturally inherent within all people, to seduce Beauplaisir over and over again. The flawless execution of her “method” (p. 283 – it is worth mentioning that her use of this word implies, in a way, that her multiple disguises, and efforts, repeated are empirical/scientific trials) allowed her to satisfy her itching interest in what exactly it is that keeps a man’s sexual attention – as sublime beauty, which she possesses, only can attain it. She revives the intrigue in their romantic relationship using her many disguises, raising the anti every time, until it got the point where her lover could no longer take not knowing her true identity, consequently ending the relationship.

            These affairs proved detrimental to the protagonist as her persistent pursuit of her curiosities, in the hopes of trying to win her lover over, leads to her pregnancy. The quote above is describing the transformations her body undertakes both physically and physiologically: her excess curiosity has literally transformed her appearance into something far from the norm of how a beautiful innocent girl should look.

            The second quote is telling of the mind-state of those living in the mentioned timeframe in terms of what they thought about curiosity, especially curious people. The constant prying and obsession into “forbidden topics” constituted heresy, especially if practiced in excess: that the act of infringing upon societal norms is much like a deformity when compared to an average human body. This association allowed for early-modern writers to personify someone’s inherent curiosity as being able to transform into a sort of deformity.

            One of my favorite examples can be found in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein – published 1818. Ever since a young man, Victor Frankenstein’s curiosity of the natural wonders of the world leads him to a life-long obsession of the natural sciences. This lead’s Victor to create his “Creature,” which he claims was to help the future of mankind, even though Shelley’s writing suggests that it was more so due to his arrogance. Consequently, this leads to the creation of an abomination of nature, deformed physically head-to-toe, whose life ends up being nothing but a walking curiosity: endlessly wondering and studying human nature.