Abstract
Eliza Haywood's ability to simultaneously embrace yet critique the social standards of her time allow her to synthesize and expand on specific manifestations of these social apprehensions, particularly in regard to women's social and sexual conduct. The companion novels The Unequal Conflict (1725) and Fatal Fondness (1725) reflect a knowledge of and engagement with several tenets presented in ladies' conduct literature, yet often contest the advice these texts give in regard to achieving the model behaviour these texts promote. In these novels in particular, Haywood creates texts that are both broadly entertaining to readers, yet engaged with an established dialogue about ladies' conduct. Haywood's didacticism is made possible by her texts' ability to entertain. In contrast to the dry, moralizing advice or admonitions presented in conduct literature, this combination allows Haywood to embody a socially convincing didacticism in her stories.