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Introduction:
Memoirs of Fanny Hill is a growth and erotic novel by John Cleland. It was published in 1748 in London, England. This is one of the novels frequently banned due to its explicit content. The book is set in a poor village in England and London. The novel is divided by two letters of Fanny Hill. It describes her sexual and romantic life.

Plot:
In the first letter, it talks about Fanny’s childhood and her realization of growing up. Fanny had a difficult life growing up in a poor village. When she was 14, her parents passed away from smallpox, and she traveled to London to find work. Unfortunately, she gets tricked into working at a brothel. There, she witnesses different sexual encounters, including one between an older couple and one between a young and attractive couple. She also engages in a sexual encounter with a bisexual prostitute named Phoebe. One of the customers, Charles, helps Fanny escape from the brothel. She loses her virginity to Charles and becomes his lover. However, Charles is sent to an unknown place, and Fanny, desperate and poor, becomes the mistress of a wealthy merchant named Mr. H—. Their relationship seems stable for a while, but Fanny discovers Mr. H— had a sexual encounter with her maid. She seduces Will, a footman for Mr. H—, for revenge. However, they were caught by Mr. H—. After being left by Mr. H—, Fanny becomes a prostitute for wealthy clients in a pleasure house, run by Mrs. Cole. This is where the first letter ends.
In the second letter, Fanny reflects on the challenges of writing about sex and finding the right words. She tells us about her experiences in Mrs. Cole’s house. She describes being involved in a public orgy, a fake sale of her “virginity” to a rich man named Mr. Norbert, and a session of sexual desire with a man that includes whipping each other. Between these stories, Fanny shares narratives from other girls, Louisa, Harriet, and Emily, in the house. They talk about their own experiences of losing their virginity, and Louisa seduces a man named “good-natured Dick,” who is not very bright. Fanny also mentions witnessing anal intercourse between two older boys. Eventually, Fanny decides to leave prostitution and becomes the lover of a wealthy man who is 60 years old. This relationship helps her grow intellectually, and when her lover dies, she inherits his wealth. Later on, she meets Charles again, who has returned to England after being shipwrecked and is poor. Fanny offers her fortune to Charles without any conditions, but he insists on marrying her.

Analysis:
The novel, Memoirs of Fanny Hill, contains sexual encounters throughout the book. The purpose of the author may be the sexual desire in John Cleland’s mind when he drafted this novel. When Fanny fell in love with Charles, a total stranger at first, their relationship grew deeply as they built on memories together. It also is very coincidental when Charles abruptly was sent to a faraway land, especially when they started to develop strong feelings toward each other. In a way, Fanny is both lucky and unlucky. She lost her parents from a young age and experienced sexual encounters even though she was a minor. However, she got a job and got a place to stay. She also met Charles and Mr. H— due to having to work in prostitution. She also got married to a wealthy man and grew intellectually. She got rich after her lover died suddenly and inherited all his riches. She also got married to Charles after he returned to her in poverty after a voyage that caused a shipwreck. These events show how she was both fortunate and unfortunate. It is also interesting that she didn’t talk about how ashamed she was even though she was a prostitute. The main reason that she didn’t talk about the shame of being a prostitute is because she had a tight life, meaning she was busy. She had such little time being able to reflect on herself and her life. She later had time to reflect on her life being a prostitute and causing adultery and the regrets that were caused by it.

Conclusion:
Memoirs of Fanny Hill is a growth and erotic novel by John Cleland. It was published in 1748 in London, England. It is about Fanny Hill’s experiences from when she was young to her adulthood. The novel is separated by two letters Fanny Hill wrote about in her life. She lost her parents because of smallpox and became a prostitute from a young age. She was able to reflect on her life being a prostitute and carrying out adultery and her regrets and shame caused by doing that.