Mary Montagu's Rebuttal of Jonathan Switf's Misogynistic Poetry

Women Always Get the Last Word:

Mary Montagu’s Rebuttal of Jonathan Swift’s Misogynistic Poetry

Unsatisfied with conventional romantic poetry that overly idolized women, renowned satirist Jonathan Swift exaggerates the vanity of women in his poem “The Lady’s Dressing Room.” Swift consequently insults all women by portraying the female character of his poem as a vain and superficial figure who attempts to hide her more crude activities (such as defecating). Offended by the misogynistic tone of Swift’s poem, Lady Mary Montegu responds with her own poem “The Reasons that Induced Dr. Swift to Write a Poem Called the Lady’s Dressing Room,” which attacks Swift personally; she alleges that Swift’s attempt to embarrass Celia by exposing her messy room stems from his own embarrassment about failing to perform sexually during an engagement with a prostitute. Montegu’s structure parodies Swift’s, and she strategically inverts his form in places to reveal the sexist undertone of Swift’s poem. She thereby discredits his misconstrued perception of women. Through an analysis of these two poets contrasting portrayals of women, one can draw conclusions about the implications of gender in 18th century culture: women were not complacent in their constricted role in society, but instead were acutely aware of the power they possessed.

The most fundamental difference between the two poems is the target of their criticism; while Swift criticizes the false personas of women in general, Montagu specifically criticizes Swift (and his friend Pope) on a personal level. From the first line of his poem, “Five hours, (and who can do it less in?) by haughty Celia spent in Dressing,” Swift makes it clear that his criticism of Celia is directed towards wome...

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...her husband. Montegu’s refusal to accept the misogynist implications of Swift’s poem indicates that women of the 18th century were not as complacent about their role in society as one might assume. Although society in the 18th century fostered a culture that disrespected the value of women, women were not oblivious of their capabilities, and feminist literature like Montagu’s reflect how to change the conversation about women’s rights.

Bibliography

Montagu. Mary Wortley. “The Reasons That Induced Dr. Swift to Write a Poem Called the Lady’s Dressing Room” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ninth Ed. Stephen Greenblat. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. P. 2770. Print.

Swift, Jonathan. “The Lady’s Dressing Room” The Norton Anthology of English Literature. Ninth Ed. Stephen Greenblat. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. P. 2676. Print