An analysis on two seventeenth century poets and how patriarchy frames the sexual encounters by prioritising the male’s sexual desire. PDF

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This essay will explore two seventeenth-century poets looking at one poem from a female poet and one from a male poet. The first poem that will be analysed is ‘The Disappointment’ written by Aphra Behn focusing on how she reveals that patriarchy is controlling the sexual encounter. This essay will t...

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An analysis on two seventeenth century poets and how patriarchy frames the sexual encounters by prioritising the male’s sexual desire. This essay will explore two seventeenth-century poets looking at one poem from a female poet and one from a male poet. The first poem that will be analysed is ‘The Disappointment’ written by Aphra Behn focusing on how she reveals that patriarchy is controlling the sexual encounter. This essay will then analyse Andrew’s Marvell’s ‘To His Coy Mistress’ written by Andrew Marvell and how he tries to hide and justify patriarchy’s control over the prospect of sexual intercourse. The main argument of this essay will be to show how patriarchy frames these encounters by prioritising the male’s sexual desire and expecting the woman to comply. This essay will aim to examine how both poems objectify the women in order to make them less threatening and how the poets hide and reveal the rage of patriarchy. Aphra Behn wrote many different forms such as plays, poems and novels. She suspicion of a sexual scandal because of her friendship with the Earl of Rochester who was known for his explicit poetry. According to Barash; ‘Behn was active in the public world, involved, with the free-thinking, libertine circle around the Earl of Rochester (men who flaunted their love for men as well as women)’ (Barash, 1996, p. 193). During the seventeenth century, women that published their own work were frowned upon as it was thought of as selling themselves. Behn, however, referred to herself as a professional poet and was interested in women and their ‘value’. ‘The disappointment’ is a translation of a Jean Benech de Cantenac’s poem ‘L’Ocassion persure recouverte’ which was thought of as inferior work. Behn is renowned for challenging the gender roles in her poems and does this in order to disrupt the fixity of how men and women should behave according to the social codes. This is shown in her poem ‘The disappointment’ which was written in 1684 and is known as the imperfect enjoyment poem. This genre of poetry is usually written by a male poet usually referring to a man desiring a woman and then ‘laments the loss of his sexual capacity just when the woman, up to then reluctant, has become most ready and willing’ (Ziets and Thoms, 1997, p. 501). According to Zietz, ‘the female figure in the poem is the object of desire, while the male is the sexual subject’ (p. 501). However, in Behn’s imperfect enjoyment poem she reverses the gender roles which can be shown by the ring composition. 1

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Lysander’s ‘burning trembling hand he pressed / Upon her swelling snowy breast’ (ll. 36 -7) and Cloris later retaliates when ‘Her timorous hand she gently laid / (or guided by design or chance) / Upon that fabulous Priapus’ (ll. 103 – 105). It could be suggested that Cloris is more aware of the sexual encounter than she makes out. Cloris knows she needs to act by the social codes by resisting and being ashamed. However, as a woman she also has sexual desires so she is playing the part in order to negotiate to satisfy her own desires. When Cloris grips Lysander’s genitals, the speaker questions whether her hand was ‘guided by design or chance’ (l. 104). It could be considered that Behn reveals that patriarchy has power over this sexual encounter as both individuals need to act in a certain way according to the codes in order to satisfy their own pleasure. According to Livingston, ‘Behn deftly responds to her literary forebears by recasting and revising the very social expectations upon which their meanings inevitably rely’ (Livingston, p. 193). Cloris changes her role in this situation by going from a passive female to an active male pushing Lysander to become active again so she can satisfy her own desire. It is unclear in Behn’s poem whether the speaker is male or female. It could be shown that the speaker is male when he refers to Cloris by her body parts. She is broken down to ‘her mouth, her neck, her hair’ (l. 34) and is no longer a woman but parts of a woman. Cloris is referred to by the sensuous parts of her body that Lysander is desiring. It is suggested that patriarchy created a mind-set that if women are dissected into parts they will no longer be seen as a threat. This is furthered by film theorist Laura Mulvey who suggests that ‘the female figure … also connotes something that the look continually circles around but disavows: her lack of a penis, implying a threat of castration and hence unpleasure.’ (Mulvey, 1975, p. 174). Mulvey also states that there is pleasure to be found in being looked at which can be shown by Cloris having an awareness of the part she is playing of a virtuous modest woman and letting herself be objectified in order to gain sexual pleasure. During this era, it was part of society’s mind-set that female desire is just there to satisfy the male desire. This could show that not only is Cloris a victim of patriarchy but so is Lysander as the reason he fails is because patriarchy has framed this encounter and formed Cloris’ negotiation. However, towards the end of the poem, the speaker intervenes stating; ‘The nymph’s resentments none but I / can well imagine or condole’ (ll. 131 – 132). It could be

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considered that the speaker is sympathising with Cloris when she flees after the encounter and understands why she is disappointed with Lysander’s failure. It could be argued that patriarchy have framed this sexual encounter because during this era silence was considered as consent. Therefore, when Cloris is ‘silent as yielding maid’s consent’ (l. 12) it permits Lysander to take her virginity. This encounter could be fundamentally considered as rape because Cloris has to defend her virginity. According to Martin; ‘one could make the case that forced intercourse, or what we would today call “date rape,” is not only condoned, but eroticized’ (Martin, 1998, p. 197). When Lysander forces himself on Cloris, the speaker relates to religion suggesting that ‘his daring hand that altar seized / where gods of love do sacrifice’ (ll. 46 – 47). It seems as though religion is guiding Lysander’s aggression towards Cloris and it could be part of the reason why Lysander fails. It could be suggesting that by using the discourse of religion, Behn reveals that religion and rape are complicit and religion covers up the violence and abuse of women. However, this is reversed when the language of religion is used towards Lysander when Cloris ‘finding beneath the verdant leaves a snake’ (l. 110). This could refer back to the story of Adam and Eve and the snake is thought of as a deceitful character forcing Eve to eat the apple. Behn reveals that religion is accepting this wrongful use of power and control and she satirizes both religion and patriarchy by using its own language. Behn’s poem has been considered as not just an imperfect enjoyment poem but also a pastoral poem by the idea of the male attempting to conquer the female. ‘Behn uses the form of the pastoral for self-exploration, dramatisation, and expression, and her pastorals offer a powerful revision of the pastoral in terms of constructing a space for the articulation of female desire and also for their challenges to heteronormativity in the pastoral tradition and in culture at large.’ (Laudien, 2005, p. 43). It has been suggested that Lysander is dominated by rage and aggression as a way of expressing his passion. Behn reveals that the rage Lysander experiences is made by patriarchy and it could be the reason why Lysander fails. The language of war is used in order to show how Lysander is trying to conquer Cloris and he is ‘mad to possess’ (l. 77) her in order to gain control over what is known as the green enclosed space. The language of war is shown when the speaker suggests that ‘All her unguarded beauties lie / the spoils and trophies of the enemy’ (ll. 39 – 40). Behn makes a parody of this language in order ‘to address social and sexual inequalities, establishing a link 3

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between sexual practices and socio-economic and political structures’ (p. 46). It could be suggested that Behn incorporated the war language in order to express how women are treated like vulnerable objects that are to be conquered. However, towards the end of the poem Behn turns the poem round to make Lysander the vulnerable individual when Cloris flees the encounter after he fails. According to Zietz, ‘his true weakness, however, exists not in his lack of control over his passion and penis, but in his inability to distinguish his own identity from the role he has assumed’ (Zietz and Thoms, 1997, p. 504). Following on from this, it could be suggested that Behn is showing that Lysander and Cloris are not at fault for this failure. She places the blame on patriarchy for framing the encounter and leaving both individuals to act in certain ways that in the end neither of them satisfy their sexual desires. The second poem that is going to be discussed in this essay is ‘To his coy mistress’ written by Andrew Marvell. Marvell’s poetry is symbolic of the transformation that was occurring during this time to take society from a medieval Christian culture to a modern secular society. ‘To his coy mistress’ is thought of as a renaissance love lyric by emphasising the phrases ‘carpe diem’ (‘seize the moment’) and momento mori (‘remember, you will die’). It is also considered an early modern poem because it dismembers the female body reflecting the Jacobean display of cruelty and the experimental gaze of science. Marvell’s poem takes the genre of the renaissance love lyric by following the tradition of courtly seduction poetry. However, it could be argued that Marvell uses this courtly love genre in order to manipulate the female in the poem. Unlike Behn, Marvell only shows the proposal from the male’s perspective and this could be because he is trying to hide the control and rage that patriarchy wished to have over a woman. The poem enforces the idea of ‘carpe diem’ (‘live for the moment’) and ‘momento mori’ (‘remember you will die’) in order to persuade the absent woman to have sexual intercourse with him. It is suggested that patriarchy dominates in this poem because the speaker is trying to manipulate the lover into sexual intercourse by suggesting that there isn’t enough time so she should lose her virginity to him. Marvell begins the poem by stating ‘Had we but world enough, and time, / This coyness, Lady, were no crime’ (ll. 1-2) suggesting that she is committing a crime by denying his sexual activity. According to Duyfhuizen, ‘the Mistress’ coyness is her only means of protecting what seventeenth-century society defined as her moral and economic value – her virginity.’ (Duyfhuizen in Halli, 2001, p. 58). Marvell is trying 4

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to hide the fact that by her refusing his love is a crime according to the patriarchal society. By incorporating typical renaissance lyric conventions it would make it seem as though it is natural behavious and he is just expressing his passion. In this poem it shows that the absent woman has to protect her virginity because if she has her chastity she has all. Let her lack chastity and she has nothing’ (Kelso, 1978, p. 24). It can be suggested that the speaker’s identity is based on the power that he has over the woman and in this era it was considered that the woman was at fault because she is resisting. Similar to Aphra Behn, the female is dismembered in the poem and only referred to by her body parts. For example; ‘thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze. / Two hundred to adore each breast / But thirty thousand to the rest’ (ll. 14 – 16). By dismembering the woman into body parts it could be suggested that she is no longer a threat of castration. However, it also shows how anatomy was beginning to take a presence in society and society was becoming interested in how the human body was formed. Marvell seems to try and hide how patriarchy is controlling his mind-set by making it seem as though it is natural behaviour and that he is passionate about the woman he is referring to. However, it could also be suggested that he is trying to manipulate his lover reminding her of her corpse when she dies and that she should live for the moment. According to Barker, ‘The text exhibits, and even in its brutal way – within the economy of violence the imago of the fragmented body discloses within the conventional lyricism – celebrates the body of the beloved in public view.’ (Barker, 1990, p. 31). It can be suggested that Marvell is exposing the woman’s body by dissecting it in this poem leaving her vulnerable to prying eyes. Laura Mulvey focused on the male gaze and that there is a pleasure in looking at a female’s body and sexual satisfaction can be gained by objectifying another from a controlling gaze. However, ‘women’s own desire becomes effaced’ (Easthope and McGowan, 2004, p. 255). Mulvey also furthers this to state that there is also pleasure to be found in being looked at. However, the woman is not present in this poem so her pleasure is not identified nor seen as important by Marvell as he objectifies her body to the public. This leaves the woman vulnerable and also unable to respond as she is absent. Marvell tries to hide the rage of patriarchy in his poem by making it seem as though it is natural behaviour and he is driven by love and passion. It could be suggested that the speaker almost threatens the mistress for resisting his passion. This can be shown when the 5

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speaker reminds the woman that ‘then worms shall try / That long-preserved virginity:’ (ll. 27 – 28). This would remind the recipient of ‘momento mori’ and that if he does not have her virginity then the worms will take it. Marvell does this in order to manipulate the woman to give him her virginity because the analogy of the worms taking it instead would horrify her. Marvell tries to hide this aggression by making it seem as though it is natural for a woman to want to lose her virginity otherwise she will die still chaste. There is imagery that shows that the speaker is trying to conquer the woman in order to gain her virginity and ultimately control over her body. Marvell refers to ‘amorous birds of prey’ (l. 38) which could make her feel like a victim of the speaker’s love. It could be considered that Marvell is not thinking of himself in this part of the poem but by reminding the woman of her death it could persuade her to give in to him. Therefore, Marvell would be thinking of his own sexual pleasure and not her own. According to Duyfhuizen; ‘By crossing the genre boundary, we can stage the narrative of the poem's speaking and see that for all its concern with time and finality, the plot of "To His Coy Mistress" is left unresolved despite the gendered endings we might infer from the text’ (Duyfhuizen, 1988, p. 418). Similar to Aphra Behn’s poem silence would have been consent however, as the woman is not present in the poem we cannot assume whether the encounter occurred after Marvell’s manipulation or whether she refused and remained coy. In conclusion, this essay has shown how both poems are dominated by the rage of patriarchy but the poets deal with this in different ways. Aphra Behn reveals the rage of patriarchy and satirizes this by giving the reader an insight into an imperfect enjoyment poem. However, it does also remind the reader that not only is Cloris a victim of patriarchy by being unable to satisfy her own desires, but so is Lysander because the reason he failed is because he is dominated by this rage. However, in Marvell’s poem, the woman is not present and he hides how he is trying to manipulate the woman into a sexual encounter. It is thought of as a renaissance love lyric but Marvell disguises that his motivations are fuelled by aggression and trying to conquer the ‘coy mistress’ in order to have control over her body.

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Works Cited 6

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Barash, C. (1996) ‘Eros, myth, and monarchy in Aphra Behn’ in English women’s poetry 16491714: politics, community and linguistic authority. Oxford: OUP, pp. 101- 145. Barker, F. (1990) Tremulous private body: essays on subjection. New York and London: Longman. pp. 28 -34. Behn, A. (1684) ‘The Disappointment’ in Poems Upon Several Occasions. Duyfhuizen, Bernard. (1988) ‘Textual harassment of Marvell's coy mistress: The institutionalization of masculine criticism’. 50.4 pp. 411–423. Available at: http://www.jstor.org.login.library.ucs.ac.uk/stable/377620?pqorigsite=summon&seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents (Accessed: Friday 6th May 2016) Easthope, K. and McGowan, K. (2004) A critical and cultural theory reader. 2nd edn. London: University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division. Halli, R.W. Jr. (2001) ‘The persuasion of the coy mistress’ 80.1. Available at: http://search.proquest.com.login.library.ucs.ac.uk/docview/211160282/fulltextPDF/231C7B 67A80E4A4DPQ/1?accountid=17074 (Accessed: Friday 6th May 2016). Kelso, R. (1978) Doctrine for the lady of the Renaissance. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. Laudien, H. (2005) ‘Aphra Behn: pastoral poet’, Women’s Writing 12 (1) pp. 43-58. Livingston, M. (2009) ‘Aphra Behn’s “The Disappointment” as ring composition’, The Explicator 67 (3) pp. 191-195. Martin, R.C. (1998) ‘“Beauteous wonder of a different kind”: Aphra Behn’s destabilization of sexual categories’, College English 61 (2) pp. 192-210. Mulvey, L (1975) ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’, in A critical and cultural theory reader. 2nd edn. Maidenhead: Open University Press, pp. 168 – 176 Munns, J. (2004) ‘Pastoral and lyric: Astrea in Arcadia’ in Hughes, D. (ed.) The Cambridge companion to Aphra Behn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 204-221. Zeitz, L. M. and Thoms, P. (1997) ‘Power, gender, and identity in Aphra Behn’s “The Disappointment”’, Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 37 (3), pp. 501-516.

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Aphra Behn Poems Upon Several Occasions (1684) THE DISAPPOINTMENT One day the amorous Lysander, By an impatient passion swayed, Surprised fair Cloris, that loved maid, Who could defend herself no longer. All things did with his love conspire: The gilded planet of the day, In his gay chariot drawn by fire, Was now descending to the sea, And left no light to guide the world, But what from Cloris’ brighter eyes was hurled.

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In a lone thicket made for love, Silent as yielding maid’s consent, She with a charming languishment Permits his force, yet gently strove: Her hands his bosom softly meet, But not to put him back designed, Rather to draw ’em on inclined; Whilst he lay trembling at her feet, Resistance ’tis in vain to show: She wants the power to say ‘Ah! what d’ye do?’

Her bright eyes sweet, and yet severe, Where love and shame confusedly strive, Fresh vigour to Lysander give; And breathing faintly in his ear She cried, ‘Cease, cease … your vain desire, 8

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Or I'll call out … what would you do? My dearer honour even to you I cannot, must not give … Retire, Or take this life, whose chiefest part I gave you with the conquest of my heart.’

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But he, as much unused to fear As he was capable of love, The blessèd minutes to improve, Kisses her mouth, her neck, her hair: Each touch her new desire alarms. His burning trembling hand he pressed Upon her swelling snowy breast, While she lay panting in his arms: All her unguarded beauties lie The spoils and trophies of the enemy.

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And now without respect or fear He seeks the object of his vows, (His love no modesty allows), By swift degrees advancing … where His daring hand that altar seized Where gods of love do sacrifice: That awful throne, that paradise Where rage is calmed and anger pleased: That fountain where delight still flows, And gives the universal world repose.

Her balmy lips encountering his, Their bodies, as their souls, are joined, Where both in transports unconfined Extend themselves upon the moss. 9

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Cloris half dead and breathless lay; Her soft eyes cast a humid light Such as divides the day and night, Or falling stars whose fire...