September the Sixteenth Post

The Evolution of Etymology -- Curiosity as the Search for Sinful Knowledge?

"She still thought of it, however; and the longer she reflected on it, the greater was her Wonder, that Men some of whom she knew were accounted to have Wit, should have Tastes so very depraved. -- This excited a Curiosity in her to know in what Manner these Creatures were address'd:" -- Fantomina, page 41

"Curiosity is the mark of discontent, the sign of the pursuit of something beyond what you have. In ancient literary culture, curiosity betrays the desire to know and therefore to be more than you are . . . Early modern texts represent this desire as a passion that turns the inquirer into either a savior or a monster, for both trample the conventions of nature, culture, and society." -- Benedict, Curiosity, pages 2-3

In the opening lines of Fantomina, and especially in the context of last class's discussion on the etymology of the word "curious," it was exceptionally appropriate to see that the perverse doings of men excited a "curiosity" in the title character. Also relevant was the second reference to these men as "creatures," echoing Benedict's Introduction from Curiosity, in which he notes that "passion turns the inquirer into . . . a monster." Obviously, this interpretation is skewed from the inquirer as Fantomina to the men as objects of inquiry, but it would follow from early, god-fearing thought that all passion was sinful, and thus the men were transformed into monsters, as well. Besides, the depraved tastes of these men were a sort of curiosity in themselves -- this desire to know about the lower class women that Fantomina is sitting with at the start of the story. Related to that, sex and desire were commonly seen as animalistic or instinctual passions, uncontrollable like those of beasts, which links together curiosity with desire and its synonyms in interesting ways. Even more intriguing is Haywood's continued use of "curiosity" in context. She goes on to say that Fantomina was easily swayed by her whims and that her most recent was to "dress herself as near as she cou'd in the Fashion of those Women who make sale of their Favours, and set herself in the Way of being accosted as such a one, having at that Time no other Aim, than the Gratification of an innocent Curiosity" ( page 42 ). Again, the search for knowledge is associated with sin, as the women are characterized by their unfavorable profession. It's also worth noting that Haywood includes the adjective "innocent" to describe the "Curiosity," befitting of the connotation of the word in then contemporary times. Her readers would have rightly interpreted curiosity as immoral without the clarification.

Etymology has always been extremely thought provoking, and seeing its importance in the context of analyzing early literary texts just fuels my own curiosity to learn more about commonplace words and their origins.