Filthy, But Fun!
I so much enjoyed the Jonathan Swift poem we read this week in class that I have shared it with some friends and we all agree, it is delightful. Of course, "The Lady's Dressing Room," is filthy and perhaps even vulgar, but so refreshingly honest that it is appealing. It just 'is', that is to say that it is reality and as a lady who prepares and adorns her body to enhance her appearance daily, I know first-hand the silliness of it all.
Swift wrote this poem in 1730 (or at least that is when it was published). Professor Kuin has informed us that this was the great age of satire. Why? Well, Swift was writing only 70 years after the British Monarchy had been reestablished. This was then the time of the restoration after King Charles I was beheaded by his people for tyranny and his son, future King Charles II fled to France in exile. The civil war that lasted from 1649-1660 was being won by the Puritans over the Royalists, who insisted upon upholding morality, which included closing down the theatres. Which, if I may digress, is why such interesting proto-feminist playwrights like, Margaret Cavendish never saw her plays produced (if interested look for "Convent of Pleasure" by Cavendish, it deals with gender issues, marriage and religion--how can it not be exciting and controversal! Any wonder the Puritans were against it). Anyways, once Charles II regained the throne he reopened the theatres and established the Royal Society (of which I believe Cavendish was a member). This society worked to further achievements in the arts and sciences. Thus, the age became that of reason, which is when Pope writes his verse essay, "An Essay on Man". But satire still prevailed in the land and in the words of Roman satirist, Juvenal, "it is impossible not to become a satirist" when looking around the world you live in. This must have been how Swift felt because he wrote satire in the Juvenalian style, angry and based on a deeply rooted moral point of view. Therefore, Swift was looking through this period of civilzation, which included developments in literature, music, arts, etc. and saw the pretenses which existed within that world, including the process of a lady's daily preparations which were not at all civilized or "lady-like" for that matter (a term I hate!) as evidenced by, well, everyline in the poem, but here is my favourite, "Thus finishing his grand survey,/Disgusted Strephon stole away/Repeating in his amorous fits,/Oh! Celia, Celia, Celia shits!" (lines 115-118, Norton p.575). So, swift saw the pretenses and couldn't resist satirizing about them. I love it, I only wish I could be so bold to use such words and make filthy descriptions as he. Unfortunately and although I hate to say it I suppose I am just too "lady-like" to say such things.
One last point: Did anyone else feel that perhaps Swift's poem, "The Lady's Dressing Room" has some similarities to Pope's "Rape of the Lock"? When I first read Swift's poem, I thought he was satirizing that mock-epic (which I believe is a form of satire as well). Did anyone else get that feeling?
Janice
Swift wrote this poem in 1730 (or at least that is when it was published). Professor Kuin has informed us that this was the great age of satire. Why? Well, Swift was writing only 70 years after the British Monarchy had been reestablished. This was then the time of the restoration after King Charles I was beheaded by his people for tyranny and his son, future King Charles II fled to France in exile. The civil war that lasted from 1649-1660 was being won by the Puritans over the Royalists, who insisted upon upholding morality, which included closing down the theatres. Which, if I may digress, is why such interesting proto-feminist playwrights like, Margaret Cavendish never saw her plays produced (if interested look for "Convent of Pleasure" by Cavendish, it deals with gender issues, marriage and religion--how can it not be exciting and controversal! Any wonder the Puritans were against it). Anyways, once Charles II regained the throne he reopened the theatres and established the Royal Society (of which I believe Cavendish was a member). This society worked to further achievements in the arts and sciences. Thus, the age became that of reason, which is when Pope writes his verse essay, "An Essay on Man". But satire still prevailed in the land and in the words of Roman satirist, Juvenal, "it is impossible not to become a satirist" when looking around the world you live in. This must have been how Swift felt because he wrote satire in the Juvenalian style, angry and based on a deeply rooted moral point of view. Therefore, Swift was looking through this period of civilzation, which included developments in literature, music, arts, etc. and saw the pretenses which existed within that world, including the process of a lady's daily preparations which were not at all civilized or "lady-like" for that matter (a term I hate!) as evidenced by, well, everyline in the poem, but here is my favourite, "Thus finishing his grand survey,/Disgusted Strephon stole away/Repeating in his amorous fits,/Oh! Celia, Celia, Celia shits!" (lines 115-118, Norton p.575). So, swift saw the pretenses and couldn't resist satirizing about them. I love it, I only wish I could be so bold to use such words and make filthy descriptions as he. Unfortunately and although I hate to say it I suppose I am just too "lady-like" to say such things.
One last point: Did anyone else feel that perhaps Swift's poem, "The Lady's Dressing Room" has some similarities to Pope's "Rape of the Lock"? When I first read Swift's poem, I thought he was satirizing that mock-epic (which I believe is a form of satire as well). Did anyone else get that feeling?
Janice