Love in Excess

Love in Excess is Eliza Haywoods best known novel. As the story was written by a woman – it is revolutionary in the fact that it shows multilayered characters of real women who have their own sexual agendas. The first part details the competition between Alovisa and Amena, two upper-class young women of disparate wealth, for DElmonts attentions. The narrator specifically mentioned the "custom which forbids women to make a declaration of their thoughts." That women were not permitted to express their affections or choice until a suitor formally proposed marriage is important to both the plot and the theme of the novel.[4] Alovisa writes an unsigned letter to DElmont in hopes of eliciting a definite amorous response from him, which inadvertently leads DElmont to court Amena. Amenas father refuses to allow his daughter to continue meeting with DElmont without a proposal of marriage, which forces the pair to meet via subterfuge. With the help of Anaret, Amenas woman servant, two attempts for the pair to meet are made, the second of which sees Amena and DElmont alone in the Tuileries at night.