The Lady’s Dressing Room Essay

Oppression has been a tactic used for thousands of years in order to conquer, enslave, and control those who are different from the social norm. But one group that has been and continues to be oppressed is women. Women make up half of the population and yet men were able to manipulate their lives and create a society that prevented them from being treated fairly and equally, a problem many still face today. The male dominated society that has been present for centuries can be seen entirely throughout the nineteenth century. The unhealthy dynamic between men and women can be seen in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, and Margaret Fullers Woman in the Nineteenth Century. Not only did the oppression of women present itself in literature of the time period, but it also emerged through clothing, seen in both stories and in real life. The mistreatment and misconceptions men had and continue to have about women can be shown within the literature, clothing styles, and dynamic between men and women of the nineteenth century.

After reading “A Nocturnal Reverie” by Anne Finch readers are able to see the transformation of gender roles through time. “A Nocturnal Reverie” was written in the 18th century, which was the start to improve the way women would be viewed in society. This was the start to many advances for women from

Ever since the days of World War I, women have been seen as second rate to men. They had to live up to many social standards that men didn’t have to and had strict guidelines on how to live their lives. This all changed when modernism deliberately tried to break away from Victorian Era standards in which women were subjugated to a lot more scrutiny. Ezra Pound, who was a large figure in the modernist movement, captured the spirit of the era in his famous line “Make it new!” Consequently, many writers started to experiment with many different and wild writing styles, which led to the short stories and poems we have today. The stories The Wife of His Youth and Mrs. Spring Fragrance were all written in this era of modernism. While they are written in a more traditional style of writing, both these stories have strong implications on feminism from the viewpoints of both male and female writers.

In the very first couple lines Stephon says “Five hours, (and who can do it less in?)/ By haughty Celia spent in Dressing.” Stephon is downgrading Celia in my opinion by saying, it took her five hours to get ready but it was a waste of five hours because she not beautiful. Five hours to get ready is long time and to end up not looking breathtaking like you were expected is unfortunate. Maybe this means no matter what Celia does she will never be beautiful like she hopes. The reason she will never be beautiful in Stephon’s eyes is understood when he says, “And first a dirty Smock appeared, / Beneath the Arm-pits well besmeared.” Stephon is referring to Celia as not beautiful because she seems to be dirty, he only makes this assumption after he sees her dressing room and the clothes in it. He sees her dressing room

Jonathan Swift is one of the most famous poets from the eighteenth century. He has written many satires including “The Lady’s Dressing Room”. This poem is about a man named Strephon and a woman named Celia. In the poem, Celia tries to make herself presentable to society while Strephon sneaks in her dressing room and there discovers what a vile and dirty creature she really is, altering his complete image of women in general. It could be said that Swift ridicules the relationship between all men and women, using his characters as a symbolisation. Lady Mary Wortley

Presenting literature to the public that is meant to be a commentary on social or political issues, masked under the guise of entertaining and fictional, is a tool implemented by authors and activists for centuries. While not all satire is as overt as Jonathan Swift’s suggestion that we eat the babies, it does not diminish the eyebrow raising suggestions that are conveyed once the meaning has been discovered. In Aphra Behn’s The History of the Nun and Eliza Haywood’s Fantomina, the established expectations of the female role within society are brought into question then directly rejected. These expectations establish that women should be deferential to men, morally unblemished, and virtuous at all times. Men, however, are not held to these expectations in the same way. The masculine roles assumed by Isabella and Fantomina demonstrate a private rebellion against the established patriarchal society as it warns against the under-estimation of women and proves that women exist independently.

Satire is a literary work that uses irony, humor, or exaggeration to expose and/or criticize a vice. Satire has the capability to take serious matters and ease tension on the entire situation. It has a way of making things easier and lighter even though it brings out hardcore facts. The satirist makes an argument that relies upon the intellect of the audience to pick up on the hidden meaning; and due to its critical and judging nature, satire is sometimes deemed as excessive. However, in Last Week Tonight Show John Oliver (Wage Gap), The Lady’s Dressing Room by Jonathan Swift, and Gary McCoy’s political cartoon, opposing views are brought up with the use of Satire. The “Gender Wage Gap” sketch By John Oliver exposes the inequalities of women

“A Lady’s Dressing Room” by Jonathan Swift is an interesting work of literature, especially for the time-period it was written in. A poem like such is about the other side of women men typically do not see (hints the title). By revealing the somewhat more embarrassing side of women, it shows the surrounding society that they not only take forever to get ready, but instead reveal the not so pretty side of the stereotypical women. Society during this time silences women and does not allow them to be true to themselves. Women are also held to a higher more proper standard than the men when it comes to society formalities. Swift integrates different literary ideas throughout this piece, he includes ideas such as: Feminine rhyme, prosody, imagery, a pastoral message in addition to ekphrasis.

During the Romantic Period, authors Jonathan Swift and Lady Mary Montagu were well known masters of satire in their literary works, although they publicly despised each other. The Lady’s Dressing Room, a misogynistic poem published by Swift in 1732, prompted Lady Montagu to pen a scathing response, titled The Reasons That Induced Dr. Swift to Write a Poem Called the Lady’s Dressing Room. Both poems are strongly satirical works, however, the writer’s uses of satire vary in their portrayal of gender in society and their focus on physical or psychological attributes, but compares in their use of juvenalian satire.

This story is written in an epistolary format. This first-person narrative gives the reader an intimate portrayal of the social attitudes that were common in Victorian era England. From this perspective the story attacks the oppressed role forced onto women in Victorian society. The nameless narrator of the story is symbolic for all women in the late 1800s, a prisoner of a confining, patriarchal society. Women are expected to bear children, keep house and do only as they are told; in the narrator’s insanity, she defies these roles in possibly the most exaggerated sense.

It is not a secret that women in the seventeenth century were oppressed. Puritan society deemed women to be useful mainly within the household. It was very uncommon for women to be respected as authors or even be educated enough to do so. Anne Bradstreet’s “The Prologue” was a controversial work for a woman in Puritan society, as it challenged men to share the literary world with women. Through heavy sarcasm and self-deprecation, Bradstreet defends women writers from the criticism of men.

Thomas Hardy’s poem “The Ruined Maid” introduces its reader to the harsh reality of lower class Victorian Women. Critical scrutiny through a feminist lens helps widen the scope of understanding to reveal beyond the satirical irony of the writing and bring to light the deep rooted social issue of Victorian England’s paralyzing poverty and its effects on women. In Critical Theory Today feminist criticism is explained as, "...the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women" (Tyson). “The Ruined Maid” clearly challenges

In the 21st century, many women have been successful because of feminism. Women empowerment in our current time is a lot strong than in the Medieval period, but it is still weak. In “The Canterbury Tales” by Chaucer it represents strong feminist characters in, “The Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale”. The characters such as a Wife of Bath, an old hag, and also a Queen from “Wife of Bath’s Prologue and Tale,” play a feminist character in the male-dominated society during that time. Through these three characters, we see strong examples of feminism.

Ever the keen social observer, Jonathan Swift (1667 – 1745) often expressed his reservations about the competences of the female mind through satire or by employing alternate literary voices. However, his ridicule of the female condition does not entail that he was simply a crass misogynist. In reality, the satirist scorned humanity in general: both men and women were unable to escape his seething misanthropy. Swift’s moral satire includes three notorious poems: “The Lady’s Dressing Room,” (1730) “A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed,” (1731) and “Strephon and Chloe” (1731). Human beings tend to delude themselves and see order and beauty where none exists, yet in these poems both the male subject and the reader become disillusioned over the discovery of female humanity. Therefore, Swift seems to imply that life based on delusion usually ends in bitter disappointment, and thus attempts to free us from our prejudices and the futile denial of our basic nature. Furthermore, the author finds in Esther Johnson, or “Stella,” the perfect example of the redemption he aims to imbue in the rest of humanity. Thus, through his poems concerning women, especially Stella, Jonathan Swift reinforces his belief that all humans – even women – are capable of bettering themselves.

Written by John Stuart Mill in 1860-1861, as the Victorian era took place in England, “The Subjection of Women” is a critical piece of analysis in regards to the status of women in society and their unequal relationship with the opposite sex. During Mills lifetime, women were considered to be inferior to men by custom and laws, therefore, it was expected of them to be submissive in nature and to drive their aspirations as far as those of a homemaker, wife and mother could go. Deeply influenced by the ideas of his wife Harriet Taylor Mill, and John Stuart Mill’s own beliefs, “The Subjection of Women” was published in 1869, becoming a piece of literature that would not only challenge the common views of society at the time, but will advocate for different approaches in light of modern times.