Dressing Room in Swift

Dressing Room in Swift

  • Submitted By: vgbhn
  • Date Submitted: 04/15/2013 4:59 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 1928
  • Page: 8
  • Views: 157

1)The author of this poem has used a lot of satire. Sometimes people have a difficult time understanding the real message that the author is trying to convey through the poem. The most common understanding that people get after reading this is that women are fake and disgusting. This can be proven by using different examples from the text itself. One way the author, Jonathan Swift, shows this is by using symbolism. “Celia” represents all women, thus, he is invading every woman’s privacy by revealing what is inside Celia’s dressing room. He describes what is “hidden” inside a woman’s room in detail. For instance, there is a line in the poem that reads, “The various combs for various uses, Filled up with dirt so closely fixt, No brush could force a way betwixt”. Women, when they first read this, might get offended because he is implying that they are messy and just leave their combs all greasy and filled with hair or dandruff. However, the reality is that women have so many things to do during their day that they do not have time to take care of such minor things. They try so hard to look good for the man they love or to meet the expectations of the society. It is for them that they go through such torture and put so much effort in, so that they will be accepted and loved. Another way he shows to be a chauvinist is when he describes what is in her chest. By doing that, he is exposing her and showing that all women are like that since “Celia” symbolises all the women. Women find this kind of behaviour repugnant because they would not want anyone to go through their belongings and expose them to the world. Most women generally do not like men thinking about what they do to make themselves look pretty. Women just want men to admire them and their hard work in order to experience love and consideration but, in this poem women are shown to be dirty. The line, “But oh! It turned poor Strephon’s bowels, when he beheld and smelled the towels, be gummed, be mattered, and be...

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