Love in Excess

Almost as soon as the novel begins, the narrator notes the existence of a “custom which forbids women to make a declaration of their thoughts” (37). Haywood depicts female characters with rich internal lives, complex emotions, and enthusiastic desires, but they are often constrained by an inability to openly voice these emotions and longings. Love in Excess thus explores the various constraints imposed on female desire, with various female characters attempting to navigate or defy these constraints.

Some of the women in the novel are constrained by their guardians and patriarchal family structures. Amena’s father is outraged when he learns that she has been meeting with D’elmont without his consent, and chastises her: “an ill use […] have you made of my indulgence, and the liberty I have allowed you” (48). Likewise, Camilla’s guardian, her stepmother Ciamara, feels that she is entitled to have complete control over the younger woman’s decisions. These systems of control have such deep roots that women can be ambivalent about rebelling against them: Violetta initially flees from her home and her domineering father, but later comes to feel deeply ashamed of this decision, believing, “by my shameful flight, I was the murderer of my father” (264).

For even the more independent female characters, constraints exist in the form of social conventions and risks to their reputations. Alovisa and Ciamara are wealthy and do not have any male guardians to be accountable to, but they don’t feel they can be direct about their desire for D’elmont. Both women initially send anonymous letters because disclosing their identities is too big of a risk; when she meets D’elmont, Ciamara also repeatedly disguises her identity with veils. The taboo against a woman openly communicating her love and desire is so strong that Violetta is only willing to do so when she knows she is about to die. As she tells Melliora, “life, after this shameful declaration, would be the worst of punishments” (265).

However, this prohibition also creates chaos and confusion in which identities and motivations can be misconstrued. It also leads to toxic and dangerous beliefs around consent; D’espernay advises D’elmont to ignore what Melliora is telling him because “women are taught by custom to deny what most they covet” (113). Since women can’t be trusted to communicate what they genuinely do and don’t want, men simply come to disregard whatever they say. Haywood critiques these customs, and also boldly depicts some female characters who act upon their desires and do not suffer any negative consequences as a result. Camilla freely consents to having sex with Frankville before they marry; he loves her all the more as a result, and the two of them enjoy a happy conclusion.

Similarly, Melliora refuses to have sex with D’elmont until she herself becomes the pursuer, sneaking into his bedchamber and reuniting with him of her own volition. Melliora and D’elmont’s happy marriage suggests that, as with Frankville and Camilla, women can secure their happiness when they are able to exercise their own agency and pursue their true desires freely.