the scrutiny richard lovelace Flashcards
(15 cards)
is this poem carnal or political
both
- supporters of king charles 1 in civil war opposed puritanism that the ‘ parliamentarians or round heads embodied
- so in ts poem lovelace presents himself as a charmer , supporting liberty and pursuit of pleasure ( similar to carpre diem) as appropriate to a cavalier
- back in day poems were set to music. the drama and immediency of ts work woudve been effective as an entertainment
structure of scrutiny and meter
ABABB
- 4 stanzas of 5 lines ( cinquanes )
- lines osccillate between iambic tetrameter and 3 or four trochaic feet per line
- switch of meter suggests speakers inability to remain w 1 gal
- imagery is concerned with time
key points about cavalier poetry
- school of english poets active between 1620s and 1640s ( supported king during civil war )
- lovelace was ‘leader’ of ts
- differs from metaphysical poetry in its strict rhyme schemes , regular meters and clear forms .
- cavalier poetry also differed from trad poetry in its subject matter ( carpre diem )
- celebrated beauty,nature, social life and honour
- metaphors, fantasy and platonic love.
- latter = man showing his divine love 2 gal , who would be worshipped as creature of perfection
- praise absent from scrutiny
whats the historical context behind the scrutiny
- ts written in 1640s ( just prior or during the beginning of civil war )
- between puritans and royalists
- puritans = wanted radical protestant faith
- charles 1 = waned conservative doctrines of church of england
- puritans won and executed Charles in 1649
- their victory short lived , after cromwell died in 1658 , the monarchy was restored
- lovelace didn’t live to see ts
” why should you swear I am forsworn. Since thine I vowed to be ?
- Medias res ; latin 4 in middle of sum ( poems begins in middle of convo- draws reader in
- ’ since thine I vowed to be= fem ending
- question= hightens the arrogance
- the ‘why’ emphasises trochaic substitution
- ‘I’ emphasises his needs over hers
- man is saying the gal is ? his rapid loss of interest pon her
- ’ swear’ and ‘ forsworn’= same root and echoing rhyme = song like
“Lady it is already morn, And twas last night I swore to thee “
-‘lady’ = ironic form of address; distancing himself , patronising as it suggets she woudve been seen as no lady
- implying that shes overreacting
- disturbingly casual dismissal of what was presumable a deeply solemn moment
- change in tense; shows how fickle his feels are
” That fond impossibilty “
- rhetoical evasion.
- labelling monogamy as an impossibility
- frames his infedelity as outside his control
- as tho being faithable is a laughable expectation
- ‘fond’ blatant act of belittling her feels
- common of cavalier poets
how may a modern day feminist critique ts
- as a eg os sysematic dehuminisation and objectification of gal cloaked in the guise of witty cavalier banter
- reducing gal to mere plaything in pursuit of hedonistic ( indulgent ) pleasure
” have i not loved thee much and long, A tedious twelve hours space ?”
- eg of sophism ; attempt to deceive
- alliteration and assonance is itself tedious
- conflating ‘much and long’ with 12 h - reframes his fleeting treachery as a genuine commitment
- ironic self parody , does he acc believe himself or just performing the cavalier persona
“i must all other beauties wrong and rob thee of a new embrace “
’ i must’; imperitive = compeled; moral compulsion rather than conscious one
= taps into carpre deim but stripped of its romantisism; revealing darker layers of emotional manipulation
- doesnt wanna rob her of a new lover
- portrays his abandonment as charity
- portrays himself as the benevolent hero rather than the unfaithful lover
- rebrans infidenelity as a moral duty; doesn’t want to rob( connotations of theft and violation) her of a new lover
- capitalisation of ‘ Beauties ‘ epitomises the cavalier fixation on superficial femininity and beauty
- inversion of trad gender roles suggests she too should adopt cavalier ethos of casual love
” could i still dote upon thy face “
dual meaning ; 1) express extreme love, sugessts he’s capable of genuine affection
2) to be foolish and weak minded ; implying if he continues to love her would be a form of self inflicted folly
- internal conflict ? ; torn between 2 selves ; but ts is inherently rhetocal ; it isn’t a genuine dilemma but a manipulative strategy
- emotional insinsceriy
” Not , but all joy in thy brown hair “
device of referring to her in terms of her brown hair , and other women more concisely is an eg of synecdoche ( part of sum is substituted 4 whole )
- erasing her identity ; quintessentially cavalier ; women= ornaments
- ‘hair’ she is only memorable from external appearance
- shift from lady to brown hair = speakers detachment
-a05= psychoanalytic critic= brown hair = inability to connect emotionally to women; telling of his own psyche ; may stem from a fear of vulnerability stemming from political turmoil of civil war ; loss of monarchy; defense mechanism
“but others may be found; but i must search the black and fair “
- sense of duty,
- commodifying gaze, reducing women to their physical attribute .
- sense of entitlement to explore and consume
- the device of referring to her in termsof brown hair and other women in black and fair - synecdoche.
- feminist or modern day perspective; offensive
“Like skilful ineralists that sound for treasure in un-plowed up ground “
- compares himself to geologists
- prefers women who have not been discovered by men, symbolic of virginity ?
- links to pastoral poetry which women are imagined as landscapes to be enjoyed
- ‘skillful’ practiced. almost expert ability. mastery in grabbing women from the depths of the ground ( do they wanna be found ?)
- sibilance ; mimicks a subtle whispering. conspiratorial secrecy. links to him claoking his manipulation as a duty beyond hi control
” then, if when i have loved my round, thou provest the pleasant she; with spoils of meaner Beauties crowned, I laden will return to thee ev,n sated with variety
-echoing idea of britian colonial expansion
‘ though provest the pleasant she’- feminine ending. reflects the uncertainty of speakers feelings . conflicted.
-‘ crowned’ imagery of victory
- reference to spoils of war . women being conquests
- he wants to do rounds w available women then may return to her if he deems her worthy
- he wont return to her due to love but due to ‘meaner beauties’
- cloaks his misogyny in heroic exploration
- blatant sohistry
- repeated direct address; infers that this dramatic monologue can be recylcyed and reused for many of the speakers affairs
