These female figures are identified as victims to their oppressive patriarchal society, and Haywood’s treatment of the only man to die within the story, the Count’s friend Baron D’Espernay, shows further deviation from the expectations for female and male characters. This is especially evident in Alovysa’s match of wit and deceit against the Baron, as he expects sexual gratification from her in return for the reveal of her husband’s mistress, “you shall immediately know all; thy charms will force the secret from my breast, close as its lodged within my utmost soul. – Dying with rapture, I will tell thee all” (Haywood 147). Alovysa scorns him, saying, “and if you persist in refusing to discover to me the person who has injured me, I shall find no difficulty of letting the Count know how much of…show more content… They both die from sword wounds on the same night, paralleling the similarities between women and men through their violent demises. However, differences are drawn between the Baron’s death being a result of a sword fight between the Chevalier and him over his misdeeds (assumingly those towards Alovysa). As the narrator states, “…there appeared so much of justice in the Baron’s death, and an accident in Alovysa’s, that the Count and Chevalier found it no difficult matter to obtain their pardon” (Haywood 158). Their deaths have the same outcome, likening the two and in return emphasizing the likeness between women and men, but the cause is vastly different. Alovysa died in order to progress the plot, leaving her death an accident, while the Baron died to repay for his “treachery” (Haywood 158), leaving his death intentional on behalf of Chevalier. Thus, the differences between men and women are still apparent, and the Baron experiences prolonged suffering (dying two days after being mortally wounded), while Alovysa dies immediately after the accident, saving her from suffering though she too possessed undoubtedly cruel
