Homer said in the Iliad that "revenge is sweeter than flowing honey." In Eliza Haywood's The City Jilt, revenge arises from ruthless passion and unbridled drive. Glycera, the protagonist of The City Jilt, embodies one who thrives on retaliation, one whose main priority in life is "to torment the entire human race." From the beginning of the novel, Glycera is portrayed as an autonomous female figure. He pursues his desires, says what his mind thinks, and acts on what his heart feels. When she is betrayed by the only man to whom her heart was dedicated and committed, Glycera loses all feelings of compassion and love, mercy and grace. Because of one man's perfidy, Glycera's life is now immersed in male aversion and male punishment. In an attempt to maintain independence and freedom, Glicera sacrifices her ability to emote and feel. Although Glicera triumphs in his revenge from an economic and materialistic point of view, by juxtaposing Glicera's extreme love and dedication with his utter hatred and resentment for Melladore, Haywood exposes to his readers the futility of retributive justice. By contrasting Glicera and her friend Laphelia, and using the narrator's voice and tone throughout the novel, Haywood reveals the limitations and drawbacks of Glicera's commitment to revenge. Exuding indifference and apathy in his female protagonist, Haywood uncovers the seemingly heroic figure and fully exposes the stark nakedness of Glicera, the isolated and abandoned victim of traumatic events. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Before the City Jilt is revealed, Haywood glorifies and flatters the love between Melladore and Glycera. Waiting for the day established for the celebration of their wedding, "this couple of lovers thinks of nothing but the imminent joys, of all the delightful visions with which the God of love deceives his devotee, represented before their eyes and forming a thousand daydreams" of an imaginary Heaven of Pleasure – with equal ardor, equal languor they both desired the happy Minute that would crown their loves..." (85). Their love is elevated by the emphasis that even the God of Love has approved and permitted this relationship. Therefore, if the God of Love has sanctioned the courtship of these two lovers, only an equal and opposite force could break the bonds between the two. It is Haywood's eloquent description of the lovers' passion and commitment that allows her to quickly influence and earn the great sympathy of her readers as tragedy looms over the protagonist, Glycera. Upon her father's death, we, like Glycera, depend on Melladore's love and perseverance to ease the pain and sorrow that [Glycera] felt. When he betrays her to the fullest extent by stealing her virtue and abandoning her with her son, Haywood strategically uses this opportunity to "proportion the love he had when he believed it to be true," to the "resentment when he knew it to be false." (89). Haywood foils the extreme actions and passions of love and hate and manages to influence his readers to excuse first and foremost “the implacable hatred in [Glycera's] Nature; not only in Melladore, but in the entire decay of Sex” (96). However, when his only decision is to "conduct himself to them in a manner which may further both his interest and his revenge", and "feign tenderness for the ugliest as well as the most beautiful of mankind, for all were equally hateful to his thoughts” (96), it becomes clear to readers that Glycera's commitment to revenge in terms of the psychological cost of her behavior centers on the trauma of Melladore abandoning her for another woman. InEssentially, as Glicera's attitude towards her reputation changes, her mentality and respect towards men have also transformed. Since Melladore serves as a synecdoche for all men, it is ingrained in Glycera's mind that men are "the most vile and detestable of yours. all the treacherous Species" (92). Glicera's identity is no longer built on her independence, but rather on her agonies and suffering. By allowing the great pains resulting from Melladore's betrayal to condemn and shape Glicera's identity, Haywood further demonstrates the futility of retributive justice. At the beginning of The City Jilt, readers are overwhelmed by the realization that the protagonist, Glycera, has been robbed of her virtue and abandoned penniless by her father. One cannot, however, underestimate his heroic power as he not only “regained his health, but also greater mental tranquility than might be expected in a condition such as his” (95). Indeed, when she is stripped of all she once possessed and languishes in "pains that were considered the harbingers of death," it is a surprise that "her desire to live makes her readily conform to all that was prescribed for her." by the Doctors; and their Skill and Care, combined with the force of Nature, at last restored her to that Health, which no one who saw her in her Illness imagined she would ever again enjoy” (95). Through Glicera's willpower and self-determination, she successfully prevents Melladore from taking her life and physically recovers from her anguish and pain. Through her traumatic experience with Melladore, Glicera discovers a new power and authority within herself. Not only does Glicera have power over a large number of younger, wittier men, but she also holds sway over Grubguard, a member of the upper house of the city government. With her newfound strength and the recovery of her independence and freedom, Glicera manipulates her beauty and ingenuity to reap the benefits and luxuries that her admirers bestow upon her and makes a “Sacrifice even of [Glycera's] purse” (101). Men constantly hound her for sex; they do not require his virtue, nor do they see relationships as having potential for marriage. Free from commitments and liberated from society's double standards, these men are easily lured into conquering Glycera and become slaves to her beauty. They shower Glycera with all sorts of jewels, "Rings, toys for his watch, plates of all kinds, and jewels," but all these are given in the hope of the highest expectation, "the last and greatest favor" (97). In this way, ironically, she appears more ornate than any other court beauty who still retains her virtue. Furthermore, with this new perspective and insight, Glycera recognizes the fickleness of men; he accepts them as vile and deceitful beings, thus dissuading himself from feeling pity or sympathy for them. He rationalizes his actions and finds divine justice in his “Hatred which his Ingratitude had created in his Mind” (101), firmly believing that the God of Love would sanction this form of retributive justice. Although Glycera loses everything that society deems valuable, worthy, and respectable in a woman, she secures the physical benefits of wealth and extravagance by feeding on the sex that has done her harm. fleeting and transitory goods? Haywood demonstrates, unfortunately, that not even the greatest profusion of wealth and possessions can buy peace and joy. Because the excess of what the world has to offer means absolutely nothing to those who lack heart and soul. In the exchange of all necessities and luxuries, Glicera pays the greatest price of all: her ability to feel and relate to the joys and sorrows of others. Upon hearing the news of his father's deathtraitor, Glycera feels no remorse or peace, but expresses “happy Indifference, without any Emotion of Joy or Sorrow” (118). Isn't it ironic that indifference can be called happy when Glycera is now devoid of any emotion of joy or pain? Skillfully using this irony of “happy indifference,” Haywood shows that the greatest and happiest emotion Glicera can feel is indifference. In doing so, Haywood also highlights Glicera's inability to move forward from the past, still allowing pain and suffering to dictate her life. Likewise, having learned the news of her friend's marriage, Glicera offers her fortune in riches and possessions. The lack of emotion not only reveals Glycera's numbness and desensitization to her surroundings, but also ultimately reveals the futility of her revenge. Glicera's inability to express emotions uncovers the most intimate struggle that she can never and will never overcome. Since Melladore serves as a representation for all men, the retributive justice that Glycera shows to all men is centered on hatred for Melladore; the horror has been “fixed and rooted” in his mind and has become part of his nature (101). Melladore's abandonment and betrayal, intertwined with the consistency of qualities of unfaithfulness and capriciousness she finds in all men through their exchanges of opulence for sex, Glicera never fully recovers from her emotional damage. Haywood not only highlights the physical and emotional toil that Glicera endures, but also highlights the psychological damage of the pure hatred and loathing that Glicera feels for all the men who now drive all of her behaviors and actions. Even in the death of Melladore Glicera cannot find peace. Although she did not allow him to rob her of her life, her soul and heart died along with Melladore's death. What remains of Glycera is an outer shell of physical behavior and presentation. When Lafelia, Glicera's only friend, is driven away “by the arrival of a young gentleman” and exchanges the “pleasures of a single life for the more attentive ones of a married state,” the narrator's voice remains passive (119 ); the words articulated to describe a sacred and ceremonial union are static and materialized. The detached and frigid voice of the narrator contrasting “the pleasures of a single life” with “the more careful ones of a married state” forcefully emphasizes the transitory nature of single life. One day Glycera will no longer be able to deceive men with luxury. One day, she will experience the limits and constraints of a single woman. Parallel to Glicera, the protagonist of Haywood's other work, Fantomina, is finally sent to a monastery and "thus ends a Plot, which, considering the Time it lasted, was as full of variety as perhaps any which many ages had produced" (71). Because of society's judgment and authority over women, especially those who are single and without virtue, both Fantomina and Glicera become the object of criticism from society. Furthermore, these women are condemned to the cruelest punishment of all: a life of solitude and emptiness. Where Fantomina is forever limited to talking and pretending, Glicera, while physically overcoming the pain, is forever marked by her past and condemned to a monotonous lifestyle, unable to marry even if she wants to because she lacks the virtue supported by society . Does Glycera exude glory through her revenge? Is she the representation of a successful heroine? Unfortunately, Haywood's description of Glycera serves as a microcosm for women pursuing their own desires and independence without authority. Not only does Haywood show through Glycera his inability to have what he wants, but he also demonstrates to his readers the harsh consequences of.