Week 2 – Phillip Leland
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The words lie and raised in “The Lady’s Dressing Room” by Jonathan Swift.
The first word from Swift’s poem that I find important is the word “lie”. Swift calls it a lie when other men describe Celia as sweet and cleanly. This one word summarizes the feelings that the main character Strephon is experiencing as he snoops through Celia’s dressing room. He feels betrayed and fooled when he discovers what she must take many disgusting steps to maintain her appearance. Strephon starts believing that female beauty is in fact a lie, and the value he has placed on that trait has been lost.
The second word important word is “raised”. This word is used by the narrator to when they say that Strephon should marvel at the beauty that rises from filth. This represents the exact opposite belief and experience that Strephon is currently going through. By using the word raise, Swift is creating an image that is very positive of women and their beauty. Rather than being as revolting as their dressing rooms, women are able to escape it and overcome the disadvantages of the normal human body to appear perfect.
I chose these two words because they are used in completely opposite manners and yet are both used to communicate the same overall point. Each describes the same discovery, one expressing disappointment and anger while the other displays respect and understanding. I think this contrast between the two is the very essence of this poem. That something that may be of little to no value to one individual can hold great value to another and that value is not an objective quality.
I really enjoyed that you used contradicting points in the poem in order to make a concise point about the nature of the poem.
I agree with Caitlin. You bring out two really nice points of view and you phrase them very well. I think that it could be said that even more, something that is valued by one individual not only has less value to another, but to the other, it is the total opposite of valuable–it should be completely averted.
Oh, very good, Phillip! You pick up on a subtlety that hasn’t been emphasized in class discussion: is all female beauty a lie, or just Celia’s? And “raised” is a useful term as well — focusing on these two words together highlights the poem as a conflict between different perceptions of value. So, the conflict is one of relative value between two different parties. If you take this further, in one of your blog posts, then the next question to take on is this: what can be done in situations like this one?
Given that Swift uses both of those terms, and the section about “raised” near the end almost like a last word, do you think Swift is criticizing female beauty, or admiring that women manage to cover up their awful humanity?