The Presentation of Women in Swift and Pope
Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift published much poetry in the 18th century that related to the representation and perception of women in their societies. Both poets rely heavily on the use of satire to present perceptions of both sexes in The Rape of the Lock and The Lady’s Dressing Room. In particular, Pope and Swift satirise female vanity next to exploring the true meaning and value of their beauty, and it is clear to see that their methods in doing so are various and comprehensive.
In The Rape of the Lock, the act of being beautiful is presented by Pope as a virtue and therefore key to a woman’s existence. ‘If to her share some female errors fall, / Look on her face, and you’ll forget ‘em all’ (ii, 17-18). This description of Belinda shows that, because of her excess beauty, she is more virtuous than “all” others. It highlights how striking physical features and maintaining an attractive appearance are far more important than anything that a woman could ever say. It dehumanises Belinda despite her attractive nature, and is also ‘in synchrony with Belinda’s valuation of her own divine beauty’1: instead, it appears women are expected to conform to a social convention of existing solely to attract the opposite sex. This is further shown by the line ‘Bright as the sun, her eyes the gazers strike’ (ii, 13), which demonstrates the luminous power of the woman’s eyes and yet the deadly nature of her “strike” in attracting a man – enhanced by the emphatic stress on this word due to the poet’s use of iambic pentameter. Therefore, Pope appears to remove his woman here of any individuality unless she was to rebel against society’s expectations and is prepared to be outcasted.
The presentation of women as whores who constantly submit to the opposite sex is a fact referenced during The Rape of the Lock. Pope writes, ‘And she who scorns a man must die a maid; / What then remains but well our power to use, / And keep good humour still whate’er we lose?’ (v. 28-30). This
In The Rape of the Lock, the act of being beautiful is presented by Pope as a virtue and therefore key to a woman’s existence. ‘If to her share some female errors fall, / Look on her face, and you’ll forget ‘em all’ (ii, 17-18). This description of Belinda shows that, because of her excess beauty, she is more virtuous than “all” others. It highlights how striking physical features and maintaining an attractive appearance are far more important than anything that a woman could ever say. It dehumanises Belinda despite her attractive nature, and is also ‘in synchrony with Belinda’s valuation of her own divine beauty’1: instead, it appears women are expected to conform to a social convention of existing solely to attract the opposite sex. This is further shown by the line ‘Bright as the sun, her eyes the gazers strike’ (ii, 13), which demonstrates the luminous power of the woman’s eyes and yet the deadly nature of her “strike” in attracting a man – enhanced by the emphatic stress on this word due to the poet’s use of iambic pentameter. Therefore, Pope appears to remove his woman here of any individuality unless she was to rebel against society’s expectations and is prepared to be outcasted.
The presentation of women as whores who constantly submit to the opposite sex is a fact referenced during The Rape of the Lock. Pope writes, ‘And she who scorns a man must die a maid; / What then remains but well our power to use, / And keep good humour still whate’er we lose?’ (v. 28-30). This