As a response to  Duck’s poem, Mary Collier wrote The Women’s Labour. Her poem expresses that working class men are not the only people who are worked to the bone. The poem discusses how working class women have multiple roles within society as they serve as wives, mothers, and laborers. Collier stresses that the working day for a woman doesn’t end when the sun goes down. Unlike men, woman are unable to relax in the evening as they need to cook supper and tend to the children; “Now Night comes on, from whence you have Relief, / But that, alas! does but increase our Grief; With heavy Hearts we often view the Sun, / Fearing he’ll set before our Work is done” (688).

   “Yarrr, give me a treat or I’ll poop on your doorstep!”

     The first poem “The Lady’s Dressing Room” is a satirical poem about women and the perception that men have of them, perhaps during the courtship stage of a relationship. The poem features a male suitor named Strephon who enters the dressing room of a young noble woman named Celia.  The first two lines of the poem states that Celia’s morning routine takes her five hours: “Five Hours (and who can do it less in?) / By haughty Celia spent in dressing” (502). These lines suggest that women go to extreme lengths in order to look presentable when they are in the company of men.  As Strephon explores Celia’s room he finds her beauty remedies and her layers of clothing strewn about the room. It is clear that the more Strephon explores Celia’s room, the more disenchanted he becomes with her. He is grossed out again and again as he finds sweat stains on her clothes, bottles of makeup, and dirty face clothes. Strephon claims that any man who finds Celia sweet and clean is a liar or perhaps gravely mistaken; “But swears how damnably the Men lie, / In calling Celia sweet and cleanly” (503). The poem may be suggesting that after the flowery courtship stage of a relationship is over, women reveal their true selves, which is not as perfect as they initially appear to be.

    The second poem “A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed” seems to paint a similar satirical view of women. The poem features a woman who is the “Pride of Drury Lane” as she retires for the night (506). The poem describes the woman as she takes off her wig, fake eyebrows, makeup, etc. The poem also seems to suggest that woman put on a false front in public, and expose their true selves in private. I don’t know if Swift caught a glimpse of his mother taking off her false eyelashes, or was disillusioned on his wedding night, but he seems to be really be fixated on the way women physically present themselves in privately and publicly.

I found the death of Imoinda heart wrenching! I understand that Oroonoko was afraid of what would happen to her once he died, but did he REALLY have to kill her? Imoinda was able to keep herself safe before his arrival at the plantation, so I really don’t think that her gruesome death was necessary. Also, Oroonoko chickened out of killing himself, thus prolonging his agony and defeat for a few more weeks.

             The selections of poems that we looked at for class this week were written by Katherine Phillips, Aphra Behn, and John Wilmot. I was surprised when reading some these poems because of the explicit content! I particularly enjoyed reading Wilmot’s poems because they were the most entertaining. Wilmot’s biography within the text describes his poetry as “bawdy”, which I believe is the perfect word to describe it. Wilmot’s “The Imperfect Enjoyment” was definitely one of the more sexual poems and I was a little surprised at how explicit the content was within the poem. “The Imperfect Enjoyment” focused on the desire between two lovers and their quest for sexual gratification which is spoiled when the man is unable to perform. The poem features a woman who is just as sexually charged as the man. She has no qualms about expressing her desire for the man, which is interesting because women within this period were expected to be chaste and soft spoken.

            I must admit that I find it fascinating that Wilmot dared to write such racy poetry during a time when sex was not supposed to be openly discussed. It seems that he views sex and love as being separate from each other, as there is not mention of devotion or marriage between the lovers.