It could be said that Swift ridicules the relationship between all men and women, using his characters as a symbolisation. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu reacted to this poem with a poem of her own. In “The Reasons that Induced Dr. Swift to Write a Poem Called the Lady’s Dressing Room. ” She portrays Swift as her version of all men and converts his Lady Celia into Betty the prostitute. In her poem, Swift tries to seduce Betty, but the only way he can succeed is to pay her for her services. Their act of coitus is a disappointment.
Swift blames Betty for this and they end up quarreling. This calls into question how these two poems relate to each other in the message they are conveying. This essay will portray these messages regarding the role of the man in Swift’s poem, the role of the man in Montagu’s poem, the role of the woman in Swift’s poem and the role of the woman in Montagu’s poem. In Swift’s poem the role of the man is represented by Strephon. Strephon secretly slips into Celia’s dressing room at the beginning of the poem.
In lines 3 to 4 it is suggested that he catches a glimpse of Celia whom is getting dressed. “The goddess from het chamber issues, Arrayed in lace brocade, and tissues. ” These lines portray really well how Strephon sees women. He idealises them as goddess-like creatures, near to perfection. The lack of clothing suggests his lust for women. However his perception drastically changes after he “took a strict survey” (l. 7) of Celia’s room. He now thinks badly of women in general suggested by the line “All women his description fits” (l. 125).
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However the ending of the poem mentions Swift’s own opinion of women rather than that of Strephon saying: “He soon would learn to think like me,/And bless his ravished eyes to see/Such order from confusion sprung,/Such gaudy tulips raised from dung. ” (l. 141-145) “He” referring to Strephon and “me” referring to the writer, Swift. It could be said that Swift likes women when reading these lines, but it is more likely (Especially because he refers to ‘blessing your ravishing eyes’) that Swift only thinks well of women regarding their sexual appeal.
Some even say that “From the very beginning “The Lady’s Dressing Room” is marked by masculine spectatorship, and woman’s role as fetish is made implicit[. ]” (Weise).
Montagu used Swift to represent the role of the man in her poem. In the introduction to her poem it says that she “did not like Swift. She objected to his politics [], His friendship with Pope [], his vanity (especially at knowing important people), and his defiant indecency (which she considered not only inappropriate for a clergyman but also a sign of low breeding).
(Norton) Taking these reasons for dislike into account it becomes apparent she is referring to Swift portraying the role of the man in her poem even though she never mentions his name directly except for the title. Therefore, the title suggests that the reason Swift wrote a women unfriendly poem is because of a regrettable encounter he had with a woman himself. Furthermore, Montagu shows her dislike for Swift’s picture of women, who all pretend to be something they are not by mentioning men pretend just as much, or even more.
This becomes apparent in the lines “And men their talants still mistaking/The stutterer fancies his speaking. / With admiration oft we see/Hard features heightened by toupee. ” (l. 39-42) So not only does she critisises Swift but also all men in general which shows her feminism. Lady Celia represents the role of the woman in Swift’s poem. Lady Celia is characterized by Swift as a lady who keeps up appearances for society by making herself pretty and presentable while (as Strephon discovers in the poem) she is actually a mere human, a dirty woman who defecates and transpires instead of a goddess-like creature.
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This characterization is not outstanding because “Swift has been considered one of the most notorious misogynists of British literature” (Modia).
Swift portrays Celia as a symbolisation of all women. The message Swift could be communicating with this character is that women are often regarded as inhuman perfect and goddess-like creatures but they are actually vile creatures who keep up pretenses for society. It could be argued that he only meant that women should not keep up these pretenses because it is all right to just be human, just like men, but due to his notorious misogynism this is not very likely.
The lines “Should I the queen of love refuse/Because she rose from stinking ooze? /To him that looks behind the scene, Statira’s but some pocky quean. ” (l. 131-134) are interesting because of the comparison made between Celia and a ‘queen of love’ and between Celia and Statira (who is, according to the footnote in the Norton Anthology a heroine in a play named Rival Queens) who is referred to as quean. This word bears so much similarity with the word queen that it suggests the link with Celia as queen of love and with the mentioned play.
However, this word does not include royalty and wealth in its meaning. The Oxford English Dictionary states that the word means “Originally: a woman, a female. Later: a bold or impudent woman; a hussy; spec. a prostitute. Also in extended use. ” Therefore, the comparison shows that Swift portrays Celia as just a woman (human) or worse, a prostitute. ” Montagu also used this word in her poem, showing the bias meaning of the word and its obvious connection to the word ‘queen’. “I’ll be revenged, you saucy quean. ” (l. 84) Betty the prostitute represents the role of the woman in Montagu’s poem.
Montagu critisises Swift’s poem, suggesting that she was offended by his writings. Even though Montagu’s Betty is a prostitute, she is a strong woman who knows what she wants (money instead of flattery) and she is the straightforward character in this poem, free of pretenses. She is also the one who unmasks the male for what he really is suggesting that she takes up the role that Strephon represents in Swifts poem. According to Deutsch, Lady Mary Montagu was not only a feminist who disliked marriage, but she was also a romantic (p. 333).
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In studying Jonathan Swift’s poetry, I have been instantly drawn to his series of Stella’s Birthday poems, one of which was written every year from 1719 until the death of their subject, and in this essay I will be examining how Swift has represented women and femininity in these poems, and several more of his works. My aim will be to ascertain this by examining his works in detail, ...
This ideology becomes clear within her poem as well.
Because Swift ridiculed romance in his poem, she ridiculed him by presenting him in a romantic situation but letting him fail. (In the poem Swift’s romantic advances are not answered, only when he pays Betty she consents to his offer, but even then he fails in the act. ) Suggesting that Swift cannot even have romance even if he wanted it, implying that he was ridiculing romance because he could not have it. Betty’s straightforwardness is what insults Swift the most in Montagu’s poem, especially the ending in which Betty “answered short, “I’m glad you’ll write,/You’ll furnish paper when I shite. ” (l. 88-89) Dealing her final strike to Swift, telling him that his writing is bad. In conclusion, the messages the writers of the two poems discussed in this essay become apparent through numerous subjects. Swifts ideology regarding gender is shown through his characters Strephon and Celia. In which Strephon is a woman loving man who discovers the vile nature of women, altering his love into disgust. In addition, Celia is represented as a pretentious queen, hiding her queanish nature. In reaction to this poem, Lady Mary Montagu wrote another poem.
In this poem the role of the man is represented by Swift and the role of the woman by Betty. Montagu portrays Swift as a man of pretense who thinks himself better than he actually is. Betty is represented as a prostitute, but she is the straightforward character in this poem. She also reveals Swift’s pretenses (just like Strephon reveals the pretenses of Celia in Swift’s poem) suggesting Montagu switched the characteristics of the characters in her poem. Her strong insulting reaction on Swifts poem shows her feministic ideology, concluding with a remark about his works.
