ENGL 200 D: Reading Literature: Literature in the Marketplace

In Colliers poem, The Woman’s Labour, she argues for the fact that a woman’s work is never done. Although it’s written around the 17^th century, many of the ideas revolving around a woman and working can relate to today’s time period. Jonathan Swift writes a poem around the same time titled, “The Ladies Dressing Room”, that consist of pointing out all of the unseen flaws that women have in an effort to reach perfection. I think if these two authors had a conversation on the labour issue it would consist of Collier pointing out the fact that all women do not have the resources to live a life of luxury, even when it comes to their appearance. Some, if not most, women’s daily lives consist of working just to get food to stay alive. So for Swift to create the image that all women are secretly using filthy methods to create a fake perception of beauty is inaccurate. No, he is not directly scrutinizing the lives of women working in the fields, however, it can be looked at from both points of view. For Collier, work is what makes a woman more valuable, so there is not a need for them to manage their outer appearance as much. But for Swift that is all that woman care about when they are attempting to be attractive for the opposite sex. However, there should be a balance in both situations since being happy with their outer appearance is something that most women are concerned with. Swift, might argue for the fact that women’s lives are not truly consumed with work, and if they spent less time primping for their day, they may complete some of their daily chores in a more timely fashion. Even if they are not using pounds of makeup, or trying on endless amounts of clothes, they are still spending unnecessary minutes being concerned about an image that for most is not the real them whatsoever. In the end, I do not think Collier and Swift would agree on this topic, Collier believing that women deserve to have a moment of feeling their best through their tiresome work days, even if it really is not their job to look pretty. And Swifts opinion being that their workdays would not be so bad if they were not concerned with their appearance since it ultimately doesn’t really have anything to do with their labor.