Oh, Fanny! What a deep voice you have: Masculinist narration in John Cleland's "Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure"

Author

• Ilana. Cohen

Author Type

Graduate Student

Date of Award

1997

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Status

Version of Record

Submission Date

October 2026

Thesis/Dissertation Advisor [Chair]

Anderson, David R.

Abstract

John Cleland, author of Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure, employs a female narrative voice, but his novel reinforces traditional gender roles of male domination and female submission. By co-opting his female narrator, Cleland makes Fanny appear to be a willing and available sexual partner. His pornographic novel depicts sexual situations that raise virile men to the position of authority and devalue both men and women who are submissive, not "masculine." The most devalued and objectified character in the novel is Fanny herself, even though the novel portrays her as happy and satisfied.

Extent

65 p.

Comments

FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection|Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1997.|FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Recommended Citation

Cohen, Ilana., "Oh, Fanny! What a deep voice you have: Masculinist narration in John Cleland's "Fanny Hill or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure"" (1997). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 1990 - 1999. 1198.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_4/1198

Identifier

FADT15415

Format

pdf