A. Rose Miller Period 5 11/21/2012 Lady’s Dressing Room Essay “A Lady’s Dressing Room” and Montagu’s Response The poem, “A Lady’s Dressing Room” is of a crude sort of off-color humor. I find it repulsive, in-your-face, and indecent. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s response was certainly understandable. The many insults she wrote toward men were justified considering what Jonathan Swift had wrote about women.
“Not a day since then I haven’t whished him dead”-Havisham This is very effective as the aggressive tone shows “Havisham” has been rejected and her love is causing her pain. Similarly in “Valentine” “Carol Ann Duffy” uses a very forceful tone with words like “here” and “take it” which tells us her lover is not being very co-operative and like “Havisham” suggests a degree of pain within there love. The theme of love is taken to a deeper level by “Carol Ann Duffy” when she shows through literary techniques that the pain of love can be dangerous. The theme of love is contrasted by violent metaphors in both poems. “Ropes on the back of my hands I could strangle with”-Havisham This is another example of the pain of love and it is particularly effective as it shows the extreme physical tension within “Havisham” and describes the pain of love as a driving force of murder.
It also suggests that she misses her past through the use of a rhetorical question which makes the reader feel sympathy for her. In the poems “Medusa” and “Les Grands Seigneurs” both of the poems explore gender conflict through love/relationships and they are both written from a woman’s perspective. In “Les Grands Seigneurs” the character was single and she was able to manipulate men and was “their queen”. We can interpret that she controlled the men through lust. In the poem “Medusa” gender conflict through control is also illustrated when she says: “a suspicion, a doubt, a jealousy”.
In this sonnet, he describes his mistress as flawed, but in the last lines of the sonnet, he declares that he loves her regardless of these flaws. One reason readers would find “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like The Sun” more enjoyable than “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” is through it unusual tone, which appeals to readers due to its odd, comical manner. Shakespeare uses a demeaning, mocking tone in “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like The Sun” for instance, when he depicts her cheeks to be dull and colorless in: “I have seen roses damasked red and white But no such roses see I in her cheeks” (5-6) This style of tone is unusual for love sonnets considering most poets tend to embellish their subjects’ beauty; to which he adds at the end of his sonnet, “belied with false compare” (14) ridiculing those poets that lie or exaggerate their subjects’ appearance. Some readers may find this interesting seeing how in “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day” he describes his subjects’
“My Last Duchess" and "To His Coy Mistress" shows the act of the men in these two poems. Both the characters in these two poems have a certain attitude towards women, which is that they both see women as objects but in different ways. Also they both can hurt anyone for their profit. Both the speakers of “My Last Duchess” and “To His Coy Mistress” use poetry to create an argument. The Duke in "My Last Duchess" is an arrogant, disrespectful man, who cares more about status and wealth than love.
Sir Phillip Sidney exaggerates this expression to construct a drag of hate over time. Desire is depreciated by the speaker throughout the poem, yet not upon its enlightenment but for its golden coating. Sidney provoked pessimistic diction when calling desire just as bad as, “scums and dregs”. By this implication of downgrading “desire” to the lowest of the low, the reader feels the negativity received by the writer though the speaker. Sidney continues the cynical thought by quoting, “band of all evils”.
‘Larkin rarely presents women in a positive light.’ In the light of this statement compare the ways in which Larkin and Abse write about women in their poems. In your response, you must include detailed critical discussion of at least two of Larkin’s poems. I agree with the statement ‘Larkin rarely presents women in a positive light’ as in his poems ‘Sunny Prestatyn’ and ‘Wild Oats’ it is recognizable that he portrays women as sex objects. In contrary, Abse feels a more personal and passionate connection towards women which is demonstrated through the poems ‘Two Photographs’ and ‘Blond Boys.’ Both poets explore their attraction to woman. Conversely Larkin presents his fascination over women to be a sexual one in which he also degrades them.
This enforces the idea that unlike Lennie, she is a complex character in the novel. Steinbeck mentioned that Curley’s wife’s voice had a “nasal, brittle quality” which is a clear sign of her flirtatious behaviour. Although her intentions were flirty, the fact that it was described as ‘nasal’ by the author made it obvious that it was unpleasant to the ears. The reaction from George made it clear to the reader that she was an attractive woman, however he was being apprehensive as he “looked away from her and then back”. This contrasts with Lennies reaction as his “eyes moved down over her body” blatantly checking her out.
However, the idea of women being unequal to men is quickly dispelled by Webster who appears to mock the misogynistic characters of the play and indeed, very possibly the misogyny of society as a whole at the time. This is most apparent through his evolution of Vittoria as a character and also a symbol of the downfall of sexism. This is most striking when considering Flamineo’s comment that “[perfumes, when chafed] expresseth virtue, fully, whether true, or else adulterate.” Portraying a key theme throughout the play of a true nature disguised beneath a thin veneer of sweet nothings. This facade of Vittoria’s is first revealed to the audience through her manipulation of Bracciano in her dream sequence. Whereby her constant play on the word “yew/you” (“both were
This is further carried on in the next line where the poet uses the sibilance of “so sweet and so sudden” to reinforce his unbearable surge of emotion. On the contrary, ‘Sonnet 29’ also uses sibilance, but for a completely different purpose. The sibilance of “man’s desire is hushed so soon” creates a hissing sound, making the tone slightly bitter and angry as the poet talks about how love will leave you vulnerable. This is thoroughly different compared to ‘First Love’s lyrical, melodic feel as Clare talks about the gentle nature of love. ‘First Love’ also portrays love as something innocent.