Jonathan Swift's Critique of Women in "The Lady's Dressing Room"
Jonathan Swift makes fun of women's sex in his poem "The Lady's Dressing Room." He depicts women as being wholly artificial, focusing primarily on their outward appearance while engaging in vile behaviors that run counter to how they are perceived by society. He illustrates this by contrasting Celia's appearance with her dressing area. (Amussen 513). But he begins the poem with a jab at the ladies: "five hours (who can do it less in?)" making men wait around while getting dressed for a long time. (Swift). Swift is elevating the male sex to a place of privilege. He uses humor to describe how all women are the same by doing the same basic needs. He criticizes them asking why do they have to do all this.
Swift's Portrayal of Women as Deceitful Creatures
Swift sees women as full of pride though are disgusting creatures. He uses the example of Celia dressing room where Stephon sees Celia's dead dog and smelly used towel which is horrific when he enters Celia dressing room. As Swift discusses how he views, women is metaphoric of the society how women are regarded (Amussen 514). He hopes Stephon to observe them the same way he does as lying, grotesque creatures and deceitful who hide their true appearance. Swift criticizes Stephon for being blind to the charms of the female sex. He is punished by the goddess of vengeance, "I pity wretched Stephon, blind to all the charms of womankind" (Swift). He concludes his poem by saying Stephon would learn to think like him where he is trying to compare his views to what each man should think. He tries to warn men to be careful not to fall into the traps of womankind since they are deceitful.
Work cited
Amussen, Susan D. "DonHerzog. Household Politics: Conflict in Early Modern England. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013. Pp. 224. $38.00 (cloth)." Journal of British Studies 53.2 (2014): 513-514.
Swift, Jonathan. "The Lady’S Dressing Room." Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50579/the-ladys-dressing-room.
