Sexism Within Donnes Elegy 19 - Literature Essay Samples

In his essay A Defence of A Womans Inconstancy, John Donne wrote of the female race that for all their fellowship will they never be tamed, nor Commanded by us. His affinity for the grace and beauty of women is evident in his many works. Yet Donne establishes a paradox within his own poetry that ignites controversy over his view of women in general. Achsah Guibbory, in his article The Politics of Love in Donnes Elegies, contends that We may not like to admit the presence of misogyny in one of the greatest love poets in the English language, but we need to come to terms with it (813).Though widely known for his witty and intellectual poetry of love, at first glance John Donne is not typically seen as a misogynist, but rather as a craftsman of words and metaphors, providing an astonishing variety of attitudes, viewpoints, and feelings (Logan, 1235). Written during the seventeenth century, Donnes poem Elegy 19, later titled To His Mistress Going to Bed, is a sexual allegory illustrat ing the male perspective of intercourse. However, this descriptive and whimsical elegy provides a clear objectification of women, both through Donnes use of possessive words and phrases in his imagery, and through the persona of his mistress within the poem.With the use of possessive grammar and images of women as property, Donne establishes a misogynistic tone in Elegy 19, particularly in the second stanza. The speaker claims possession of his mistress by using meticulous pronouns:License my roving hands, and let them goBefore, behind, between, above, below.O my America! my new-found-land,My kingdom, safeliest when with one man manned,My mine of precious stones, my empery (25-29).Here, the narrators use of my and mine allude to ownership of his lover, and the repeated possessives reinforce the sense of his mastery over the slowly undressing woman before him (Guibbory 822). Much like the controlling syntax of the second stanza, Donnes descriptive allegory of the woman in Elegy 19 establishes power and authority held by the speaker in relation to his mistress. The woman is wittingly idealized and commodified through a variety of stunning conceits that aim to conquer her (Guibbory 821). Donne symbolizes the mistress in the second stanza, line 27, as O my America! my new-found-land, which implies the mistress as nothing but mere property for the speaker to discover and take as his own. His sole desire in the sonnet is to possess and thus master the colonized woman (Guibbory 822). According to Germaine Greer, Catherine Ginelli Martin identifies the speakers purpose in this poem as at once objectifying, shaming, and figuratively raping his New-found-land' (218). Line 28 refers to the mistress as My kingdom, safeliest when with one man manned, also signifying the objectification of her by the narrator, as she is portrayed as a conquered kingdom thatis only safe when guarded by him.The misogyny of Elegy 19 can also be seen in Donnes imagery throughout the rest of the poem. One line 11 of the sonnet, the speaker commands his lover, Off with that happy busk, which I envy. The bodice to which the narrator refers to is symbolically seen as a device that allowed women to hide their femininity, endow themselves with masculine form and, thereby, power (Feinstein 63). Though most likely the speakers envy alludes to Donnes parallel of the hard, upright busk to the narrators erection, this jealously of the bodice suggests the speakers desire for more control over his lover. The bodice is tightly secured around the woman, confining her to its boundaries. The busk, which is happy not only for its situation but for its literally infinite control, relays constraint, and insinuates that the narrator is a misogynist (Feinstein 69).The last couplet of Elegy 19 reiterates the speakers desire to control and dominate his lover. Donne writes that To teach thee, I am naked first; why then/ What needst thou have more covering than a man? The use of the verb teach again implies the insubordinate nature of the woman, who must learn from the speaker, as if she is uneducated in the area of intercourse. The narrators ambiguity over covering reveals that as a woman needs no more covering than a man does, a woman needs no more than a man to cover her (Greer 221).Aside from the misogynistic grammar and imagery of Elegy 19, the mere demeanor of the female character is evidence of the poems anti-feminist and sexist tone. During the seventeenth century, the rule of Queen Elizabeth was an anomaly in a strongly patriarchal, hierarchical culture in which women were considered subordinate to men (Guibbory 813). Though Donnes conversion to the Church of England no doubt illustrated his support of the Queen, his portrayal of the woman in Elegy 19 tends to convey the typical female inferiority of the time period. Throughout the sonnet, the speaker demands and commands his mistress, yet she remains distanced, and not only is the female figure of the elegy silent, she is unresponsive in every way (Greer 222). The narrator portrays her in a stereotypical fashion, quiet and demure, as the womans silence and distance dehumanize her (Greer 217). Donnes speaker instructs the lover to remove her clothes, thus enacting passivity of the woman to her man and establishing her as inferior to his power (Greer 219). The mere fact that the woman is referred to as a mistress in the later title given to Elegy 19 suggests that though the two characters may have been married, she is but a sexual conquest for the male speaker.Though it would be unfair to ignore the narrators admiration and love for his mistress in Elegy 19, it would be equally unjust to overlook the clear misogyny revealed in Donnes sexually amorous sonnet. The speaker recognizes her beauty, yet he yearns to control and overpower it, thus objectifying the recipient of his lust. With possessive pronouns and symbolic imagery, coupled with the passive portrayal of the female lov er, Donne establishes a representation of male dominance and superiority in Elegy 19.Works CitedDonne, John. Elegy 19. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Sixteenth Century and the Early Seventeenth Century. Ed. George Logan. New York: W.W.Norton Company, 2000. 1256-7.Donne, John. A Defence of Womans Inconstancy. 2004. Ed. Alan Soble. 31 March 2005 .Feinstein, Sandy. Donnes Elegy 19: The Busk Between a Pair of Bodies. Studies in English Literature 34 (1994): 61-70.Greer, Germaine. Donnes Nineteenth Elegy.' A Companion to English Renaissance Literature and Culture. Ed. Michael Hattaway. Crowall: Blackwell Publishing, 2003. UWF Course Reserves. 30 March 2005 .Guibbory, Achsah. The Politics of Love in Donnes Elegies. ELH 57 (1990): 811-833.Logan, George, ed. The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Sixteenth Century and the Early Seventeenth Century. New York: W.W.Norton Company, 2000.