An essay on woman
1. Study Questions on Swift, “The Lady’s Dressing Room” and Montagu, “The Reasons that Induced Dr. Swift to Write a Poem Called the Lady’s Dressing Room”
The lady’s dressing room:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/50579
The Reasons that Induced Dr. Swift to Write a Poem Called the Lady’s Dressing Room:
http://www.nku.edu/~rkdrury/422/e_texts/montagu_reasons.html
1). In the final lines of “The Lady’s Dressing Room,” the speaker seeks to distance himself from Strephon. Is he persuasive when he claims that his view of women differs dramatically from Strephon’s? Why or why not?
2). How does Montagu’s portrayal of the prostitute differ from Swift’s portrayal of the woman that Strephon visits? Why do you think she portrays the prostitute in the way that she does?
3). Why do you think that Montagu characterizes Swift as visiting a prostitute? What does she seek to reveal about Swift (from her perspective)?
2. Study Questions on Leapor’s “An Essay on Woman” and Montagu’s “The Lover A Ballad”
An essay on woman: http://poetrynook.com/poem/essay-woman
The lover a ballad: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/44761
1). Why, specifically, might Leapor’s own life be useful in interpreting “An Essay on Woman”?
[Note: There are good, if brief, biographies of Leapor here http://www.enotes.com/topics/mary-leapor/critical-essays/leapor-mary and here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Leapor ]
2). How might “An Essay on Woman” be seen in relationship to Pope’s “An Essay on Man”?
3). Is Montagu’s “The Lover: A Ballad” more optimistic than Leapor is about the obstacles that women face? If so, how? If not, why not?
3. Study Questions on Astell’s “Some Reflections on Marriage”
1). Why, specifically, does Astell argue that there is very little difference between a marriage based on a man’s love for a woman, and a marriage based on a man’s desire for a woman’s money?
2). Why, specifically, does Astell think that “improving” women will challenge customary notions of marriage?
3). How does Astell say that men might benefit if women were “improved”? Does she think this will actually happen? Why or why not?
