The Lady’s Dressing Room Assignment - Part 1 In “The Lady’s Dressing Room” by Jonathan Swift, the author educate and enlighten the readers by liberating both genders from false ideals placed upon them by society. Swift criticizes both men and women for adhering to gender stereotypes throughout the poem upon closer inspection. Men are criticized for believing in the gender stereotype placed on women by society. Swift liberates the men from this stereotype when stating, “But swears how damnably the Men lie/In calling Celia sweet and cleanly,” [17-18]. In this quote, men is used as an archetype for society and Celia for women, thus society lies in calling women these sweet and cleaning beings. At this point in the poem, Strephon, or men, is …show more content…
For example, “Five Hours, (and who can do in less in?).” The author uses hyperbole when saying five hours because he exaggerates the time Celia took to get ready. It emphasizes the absurd amount of time women takes to fit into the beauty standard of society. Furthermore, the author also uses sarcasm in this line when stating, “...and who can do it less in.” Swift makes a sharp jibe at women with this line given that five hours is an extensive amount of time and almost anyone can get ready in less time than that. In the time this poem was written, the male-dominated society made women look and act a certain way and taught them to uphold that appearance. The rights of women had yet to be attained so women were mainly known for their Goddess-like looks and polite behaviour that society shaped them to be. Swift uses hyperbole and sarcasm to poke fun at this matter and to relieve humour as well as enlighten his …show more content…
Inside Pandora’s Box contained the worse and evilest thing ever known and Strephon exaggerated when he described Celia’s excrement as the evil beings that brought everything bad to Earth. When the poem was written, women were portrayed as a Goddess with no vile or foul human behaviour or activities. Swift wrote this poem that liberates that false notion and reveals the flawed human side to women. Swift mocks the idea of women eliminating feces and exaggerates their feces to be the most evilest thing in the world. The author referred to Celia’s excrements as the evils in Pandora’s Box to show how ridiculous it is when men find basic human traits and behaviour in women, thus making them flawed and revolting. Upon closer inspection and critical thinking, many methods of satire can be found in Jonathan Swift’s “The Lady’s Dressing Room.” The poem enlightens the readers by exposing the reality of genders and changes the readers’ lenses of their perspective of men and women. While doing so, the author uses satire, such as situational irony, sarcasm and hyperbole, as a comedic relief to bring alight the seriousness and stupidity of the issue at
For centuries women have been perceived as overshadowed figures who remain in a separate sphere from men. The term “separate spheres” refers to the distinct, conventional characteristics associated with gender differences. The public sphere of men is associated with commerce whereas the domestic sphere for women is linked with the household. However, there is more than just one perspective on feminism. The feminist view is influenced by three main voices: the French, American, and British. French feminists focus their attention on language; American feminists analyze the literary aspects; and British feminists examine the historical processes (Murfin 296-299). Using these perspectives, we can see the oppression of women conveyed in many different texts throughout literature and in history. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, for instance, exhibits not only a feminist view in the text, but also in society during Shelley’s time period as displayed by her negotiations with the separate spheres. Voltaire’s Candide also conveys powerful gender differences and reveals the oppression of women throughout the novel. Therefore, a correlation can be seen between the view of women in the two novels and how it reflects the culture and time period in which the novels were written.
In summary, the account for a woman’s femininity is primarily encouraged by man. Wollstonecraft inspires readers as she debates the right for woman equality to man, with most, if not all females agreeing with her argument and powerful ideas. Thus it is possible to conclude that the influence of academic literature does complicate everyday contemporary understanding, as reality of the day has differing points of view in writing. According to the referenced literature, woman in contemporary society are considered are flaw of nature however observed by women unreasonably.
Swift says that women take about five hours to get themselves ready and no less. He calls Celia, the name Swift gives to the woman being ambushed in the poem, arrogant and then compares her to a goddess. This line suggests that women take so much time to reach a level of perfection or divinity.
Before continuing, I must inform you that while both of these men may be considered misogynists, Swift is more extreme than his counterpart Pope. In “The Lady’s Dressing Room” Swift, a master of verse, paints grotesque imagery of seamlessly everyday activities of a woman getting ready to start the day. The poems first stanza implies that all women need no less than
In all, the misogyny presented in these two poems is not restricted to the time period they were written. Just as in medieval literature, it is still common for today's woman to be recognized only for her physical attributes. I believe that in order to have equality of the sexes and to help overcome the objectifying of women, it is necessary for women not to use the misogynistic views placed against them to their advantage.
She tells the girl to “walk like a lady” (320), “hem a dress when you see the hem coming down”, and “behave in front of boys you don’t know very well” (321), so as not to “become the slut you are so bent on becoming” (320). The repetition of the word “slut” and the multitude of rules that must be obeyed so as not to be perceived as such, indicates that the suppression of sexual desire is a particularly important aspect of being a proper woman in a patriarchal society. The young girl in this poem must deny her sexual desires, a quality intrinsic to human nature, or she will be reprimanded for being a loose woman. These restrictions do not allow her to experience the freedom that her male counterparts
In Jonathan Swift’s satire, “A Modest Proposal”, Swift writes about the starving people of Ireland in the early 1700’s. He makes a wild and absurd proposal to help remedy the problems of overpopulation and poverty. Swift wants to make a political statement by using the “children” as satire to grasp the attention of the audience - the English people, the Irish politicians and the rich – and make them aware of the political, moral, and social problems. In “A Modest Proposal”, Swift’s arguments are presented effectively by using pathos (emotional appeal), ethos (ethics and values), and logos (logic reasoning and facts).
...tential. With the power of satire, Swift shatters our ego to the point that the text makes us question, if in fact mankind is even worth saving.
Humor can come in many different forms. Many people are aware of the blatant humor of slapstick, but it takes a keener mind to notice the subtle detail in sarcasm or satire. In A Modest Proposal, Jonathan Swift was able to create a piece of literature addressing the faults of the Irish culture while embedding in a humorous essay. Swift’s satire allows for the gravity of the Irish standings to be exploited under the disguise of a proposal for economic benefit.
Many different depictions of gender roles exist in all times throughout the history of American culture and society. Some are well received and some are not. When pitted against each other for all intents and purposes of opposition, the portrayal of the aspects and common traits of masculinity and femininity are separated in a normal manner. However, when one gender expects the other to do its part and they are not satisfied with the results and demand more, things can shift from normal to extreme fairly quickly. This demand is more commonly attributed by the men within literary works. Examples of this can be seen in Tennessee Williams' “A Streetcar Named Desire”, where Stella is constantly being pushed around and being abused by her drunken husband Stanley, and also in Charlotte Perkins Gilman's “The Yellow Wallpaper”, where the female narrator is claimed unfit by her husband as she suffers from a sort of depression, and is generally looked down on for other reasons.
Elizabeth uses the stereotypes of her gender and knowledge of both literature and when to manipulate her gender to explain why she needs
Many people believe that Swift, as early feminist wanted to remove the high standards expected from women at that time and still today, to consider them equal. Though he is describing women in the poem, the quotes he has written are applicable to men as well, “ But oh! It turned poor Strephon’s bowels, when he beheld and smelled the towels. Begummed, bemattered, and beslimed with dirt, and sweat, and earwax grimed” (43-46).
In order for us to deal with how a consideration of femininity can effect our understanding of a literary text, we must also be able to grasp the notion of `feminism' and `Feminist Literary Theory'. A dictionary definition of `feminism' is: `the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of the equality of the sexes.' Although this leans towards feminism in the historical sense of the word, it still provides the grounds, or foundations, from which feminist literary theories were created. Feminists argue against the stereotyping and social construction of female norms, seeing them as created by men in order to establish their own sense of power. It is thought that while males suggest that gender is sex and not actually a construct, the female role will become much more passive, stereotyped and controlled.
Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth is an affront to the false social values of fashionable New York society. The heroine is Lily Bart, a woman who is destroyed by the very society that produces her. Lily is well-born but poor. The story traces the decline of Lily as she moves through a series of living residences, from houses to hotel lodgings. Lily lives in a New York society where appearances are all. Women have a decorative function in such an environment, and even her name, Lily, suggests she is a flower of femininity, i.e. an object of decoration as well as of desirability to the male element. We see this is very true once Lily's bloom fades, as it were, a time when she is cast aside by her peers no longer being useful as something to admire on the surface. The theme of the novel in this aspect is that identity based on mere appearance is not enough to sustain the human soul physically or metaphysically. Once she is no longer able to keep the "eye" of her peers, Lily finds herself with no identity and dies. This analysis will discuss the theme of the objectification of women in a male dominated society inherent throughout the novel.
In A Room of One's Own the narrator begins an exploration of women in literature. She attempts to answer many questions regarding women. The first being why is literature about women written by men. She also critiques the scholarship of the great men of literature.