Top-Rated Free Essay
Preview

Second Earl of Rochester

Good Essays
2581 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Second Earl of Rochester
The satirists shared a talent for making other individuals feel uncomfortable, particularly by making them aware of their own moral inadequacies. They used irony, derision, and wit to attack human vice or folly. One method the satirist utilized to catch their readers' attention, while also making them feel uncomfortable, was to describe those things that were deemed inappropriate to discuss openly in society. The classical example of a topic that was discussed behind closed doors, yet the satirist used freely, was sex. Mention of such things as sex can always bring a giggle, excite feelings of hidden passion, or make one's cheeks rosy from embarrassment. John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester, and Jonathan Swift, were two satirist that were noted for using perverse language and graphic depictions to elicit desired emotions from their readers and to wage their attacks on human folly.

To understand Rochester's use of sex in his work, one must understand his distaste for reason. This can be seen in his poem, A Satyr Against Mankind, when he comments:

"Women and Men of wit, are dang'rous tools, and ever fatal to admiring fools." Rochester viewed reason as a vice rather than an admirable trait in man. When man followed a course of action that was advised by reason he turned into a coward who often betrayed his ideals, his family, and his friends.

Rochester believed that to enjoy true happiness one must follow a course dictated by passion. Unlike reason, the passions do not betray one's senses and ideals. According to Rochester, the passions define who an individual is because the passions encompass one's emotions and desires. Reason cannot fully comprehend such a thing.

Rochester highlights this belief in his poem's with tales of lust and sexual innuendoes. He uses perverse language and topics not only to mock those that believe reason is the human faculty that can bring about self-satisfaction, but also to describe to his readers that sensual pleasure is the highest pleasure because sensual pleasure is derived from passion, not reason.

Rochester's poems rarely discuss love in the traditional sense; rather, he discusses it in a bodily context. Naturally, this would bring about the ire in any moralist. His poems make reference to ancient figures that draw on images of mass orgies and debauchery. He often uses language that elicits images of human genitalia. In his works, he even discusses how an individual's sexual drive cannot be satisfied or how an individual cannot perform sexually.

In Rochester's Upon His Drinking a Bowl, Rochester joins the aspect of alcohol with that of sex:

Cupid, and Bacchus, my Saints are,

May drink, and Love, still reign,

With Wine, I wash away my cares,

And then to Cunt again.

This attitude of sex and drunkenness is often associated with the ancient Greeks and Romans, who Rochester makes reference to through Cupid and Bacchus. The wine serves as a tool to rid oneself of their grasp on reason. It often drives away the feeling of anxiety that often exist between a man and women during times of intimacy. It allows one to satisfy their bodily pleasure.

The graphic word "Cunt" not only serves as a symbol of sex and the female genitalia but is also used to bring about the disgust of any moralist or any rational individual. A reasonable man would like to think that men do not view sex and women in such a derogatory manner. According to Rochester, this is not so. Men are crude creatures that do think of sex and women in such a manner.

Rochester's The Imperfect Enjoyment is an amusing tale of man's greatest fear - premature ejaculation:

Smiling, she chides in a kind murm'ring Noise,

And from her Body wipes the clammy joys;

When a Thousand Kisses, wander'ring o're

My panting Bosome, - is there then no more?…

Apply'd to my dead Cinder, warms no more,

Than Fire to Ashes, cou'd past Flames restore.

Trembling, confus'd, despairing, limber, dry,

A wishing, weak, unmoving lump

The man is this poem is so excited by the exotic allure of his female companion that he climaxes before the sexual moment ever begins. He then gets frustrated that he can not get a repeated erection that instantaneous moment. This poem amuses most readers because most men and women understand the man and most likely the woman's frustration.

This poem also serves to symbolize the power of imagination and passion. Imagination and passion can carry a person to the point of sensual ecstasy and agony. It can also serve to destroy a man's pride. A reasonable man would like to think he could suppress his exotic thoughts so that he can perform well sexually. This is not so. Man is not a reasonable creature; he is a passionate one.

Rochester's Signior Dildo tells the tale of a woman who plays on the foolishness of her male admirers for the simple use of their bodies:

Our dainty fine Dutchesse's have got a Trick

To Doat on a Fool, for the Sake of his Prick…

The use of the word Dildo in the title is clever and appropriate because a dildo is a simulation of the male penis that women use for masturbation. The woman in this poem is using the male simply for his penis. Rochester also uses other words in this poem that conjure up images of the male penis such as: prick, thumb, carrot, and candle. This poem also draws on the imperfections of women. Women cannot self-subsist. They need the aid of men to satisfy their sensual pleasures. Like men, they do not proceed with sexual intercourse out of respect and an adoring love for their partner. They proceed with sexual intercourse because their partner can satisfy them sensually.

Rochester has an almost Hobbesian view towards human nature. He believes that men are naturally selfish and governed by the passions. Men and women do not perform actions for the well being of their neighbor. Men and women perform actions because they are self-interested and the actions they do perform they believe will result in their benefit.

Through his poem, Rochester is making jest at the moralist belief that man is governed by the faculty of reason and therefore acts in the best interest of the community. He does this by using the most powerful image of all - sex. His crude language and graphic images surely catch the attention of any reader and draws the wrath of any moralist. His words mock the very foundation of the moralist belief system.

Like Rochester, Swift's uses foul images and crude language to heighten his attacks on the modern's view of progress. Swift admired the passion and imagination of the ancient world. He believed modern thoughts, particularly science, inhibited imagination and passion. He did not believe reason and science advanced society; rather, he believed such things stifled society's growth. His words were the fist that swung at the order that modern institutions attempted to force on society and culture.

Similar to Rochester's style, Swift drew on images that a modern and progressive society would disdain. His masterpiece, Gulliver's Travels, contain many such images. When he is fourteen, Gulliver is taken in by a surgeon, Mr. James Bates. Mr. Bates served as Gulliver's master for four years. A more fitting title for Mr. Bates would then be Master Bates. Gulliver does later refer to his overseer as the "good master Mr. Bates."

It does not take much effort of even the purest of minds to derive masturbate from "Master Bates." This is Swift's method of adding humor to his tale, while agitating "proper" individuals of that time. The surgeon's title can be seen as a derogatory reference to all those involved with science at the time.

"Mr. Bates" can also be interpreted on a deeper level. Masturbation is of course a means of self-satisfaction. Swift felt those involved with science were too self-absorbed that they could not possibly be aware of the world around them. The modern mind was a self-interested mind. It did not care for the interest of other individuals nor did it share in their passions. They could not possibly seek and find satisfaction from other individuals. Any satisfaction could only come from their own progress or what they termed as "progress."

When Gulliver is stranded on shore by a storm a farmer takes him in. Gulliver describes the inhabitants of this strange land and compares them to his native England. One of the more striking descriptions is of a nurse milking a child. Swift could have used many ways to draw out a comparison between women, but he used a description that he knew would elicit a reaction. He used the breast.

Gulliver describes the nurse's breast as " Monstrous." He continued:

"It (the breast)stood prominent six foot, and could not be less than sixteen in

circumference. The nipple was about half the bigness of my head, and the hue both of that and the dug so varified with spots, pimples, and freckles, that could appear more

Nauseous: for I had a near sight of her."

A bare breast would offend any proper gentlemen or women; yet, Swift realizes that there is a curiosity, even in the most reasonable of individuals, in a description of the private anatomy. There is an inner desire in every individual to know what others are hiding under their clothes and Swift plays on this desire because reasoned creatures are not suppose to have such thoughts and are ashamed to admit if they do.

Swift also amuses the reader with Gulliver's scientific description of the breast. A normal male might respond with such a reply as: "Wow! Get a load of those huge knockers and those silver dollar nipples." Others might describe them as "robust." Gulliver has to use numerical comparisons. Swift is mocking the modern minds scientific approach to describing every facet of life, even the most intimate.

It was not long after Gulliver's description that he tells the readers that the mistress of the farm led him into nature where he "discharged the necessities of nature." He later remarks:

"I hope the gentle reader will excuse me for dwelling on these and the like

particulars, which however insignificant they may appear to groveling vulgar minds,

yet will certainly help a philosopher to enlarge his thoughts and imagination,

and apply them to the benefit of public as well as private life, which is the sole

design in presenting this and other accounts to the world; wherein I have been

chiefly studious of truth, without affecting any ornaments of learning or of style"

Swift could not have used a more grotesque and offensive representation of his view of scientific advancement than that of excrement. While many readers may chuckle at such an image, a scientist would be overwhelmed with rage. Gulliver is telling the world, in a serious tone, that his deification in nature will help enlighten the world. Swift realizes that no individual takes a serious interest in another man's bowel movement and would rather that person keep such happenings to themselves. Swift is poking fun at the seriousness by which scientist approach their study. Swift believes these men are consumed by minute facts that will in no manner bring about a revelation in truth or thought. Swift's most piercing jest occurs when Gulliver declares that a study of his feces is a study of truth.

Scientist appear to be more ridiculous when Gulliver explains to the reader that it is the "grovelling vulgar minds" that find such incidents to be insignificant. Gulliver is telling the reader that it is the vulgar and uneducated minds that take no interest in such repulsive study as that of the study of feces; yet, the scientist takes great interest and will ensure that they will share their findings with enlightened ones around the world. Swift managed to transform the prestigious study of science into the laughable pursuit of inconsequential facts with one vulgar description.

Swift continued his ridicule of scientist with another tale involving Gulliver's excrement. Using modern math, Gulliver calculated the quantity of water he would need to consume to extinguish a fire. With a sense of pride and satisfaction, he managed to extinguish the fire in three minutes. Swift is turning the scientific world and its exploits into a comedy that should be performed on stage. Urinating contests are for junior high boys expressing their testosterone levels during bathroom breaks, not for mature intellectuals. In a vulgar and witty way, Swift is again calling into question the relevance of scientific study.

This incident can also be viewed on a symbolic level of what Swift believes the modern world is doing to society, particularly feeling and emotion. The waste of the modern mind, which Swift would label as science and math, is extinguishes the fires of passion, emotion, and imagination. These were the fires that raged in the ancient world and Swift believes they should have raged during his time. Gulliver and the scientist, however, were of a different mindset and continually see their excrement as progress not destruction.

Swift also uses perverse images in Gulliver's Travels to express the lack of lust, feeling, and emotion in the modern world.

"The handsomest among these Maids of Honor, a pleasant frolicsome girl of

sixteen, would sometimes set me astride upon one of her nipples, with many

other tricks wherein the reader will excuse me for not being over particular.

but I was so much displeased that I entreated Glumdalclitch to contrive some

excuse for not seeing that young lady any more."

Through Gulliver, Swift is mocking the modern world's lack of lust for pleasure and the exotic. He is not necessarily condoning widespread eroticism, but he is noting the lack of passion and emotion in the world. Most men fanaticize about a beautiful naked woman caressing them. Gulliver does not because these ladies are not like the "proper" girls in England. Gulliver finds such erotic and passionate acts as repulsive.

The graphic and perverse images that Swift leaves for his readers in Gullivers Travels not only excite the attention of the reader but they also leave the reader with a very pessimistic impression of the modern world. If Gulliver had left a description of a pile of soil instead of his urination procedure, the reader would perhaps view his work as boring, but not as comedic or repulsive. The tales would have lost their derogatory tone, their satirical edge, and their comedic nature had Swift not used such images.

Such images and language are a unique element of satirical writing. Satirist wanted to attack the vices of the community and impress an image on their readers. They, however, could not accomplish this through bland social commentary. Every literary style has certain tools to capture its audiences. The romantics used fruitful language and supernatural images. The realist used images and words that photographed how life really was. The satirist used wit, irony, sarcasm, as well as crude images and language. If they failed to use these tools then their attacks were not heeded and their words were not remembered. Rochester and Swift did not fail to use their satirical qualities and their impression on the literary world remains to this day.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Duff Brenna once said, "All literature shows us the power of emotion. It is emotion, not reason that motivates characters in literature." To me, this quote means that it is emotion that causes characters to make decisions, not reason. I agree with this quote because characters in literature do what they feel is right at the time, not what they feel is logically right. In William Shakespeare 's tragedy Romeo and Juliet and John Steinbeck 's novella Of mice and Men, the characters demonstrate how emotion can overpower reason.…

    • 873 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    trials, and temperaments. We will start off by talking about one of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    A Modest Proposal Essay

    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Jonathon Swift was a satirist of the English Enlightenment and wrote a letter to a fellow satirist expressing his hatred of the human race for misusing…

    • 422 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jonathon Swift uses satire to mock the politicians, wealthy, and the English. AFter reading "A Modest Proposal" attentively, the reader can assume that…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The act of Jane leaving Mr. Rochester shows her courage. By this decision, she both defies the Victorian expectation of submitting to a man's will, which would be acting as Rochester's mistress and shows that she can break from the emotional power that Rochester has over her. Though it is hard for her to leave, because she did in fact fall in love with him, she musters up the courage to leave a life of…

    • 859 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This article analyzes Hamlet’s “To be, or not to be” soliloquy as “a deliberation on the conflict between reason and passion” (11). After surveying the Elizabethan scholarship on passion, it examines how Shakespeare “modelled Hamlet according to Elizabethan and Jacobean ideas of melancholy” (11). Hamlet frequently “assumes a melancholic mask” when interacting with other characters, but his melancholic sentiments expressed through soliloquies appear “genuine rather than stereotypical” (14). A line-by-line analysis of the “To be, or not to be” soliloquy suggests that it “encapsulates the main theme of Hamlet”: “Both the play and the soliloquy are animated by the conflict between the ideal of Socratic or, more precisely Stoic, imperturbability cherished by Hamlet and his guiltless, inevitable and tragic subjection to the perturbations of the mind” (26).…

    • 921 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Definition of Satire

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages

    SATIRE: An attack on or criticism of any stupidity or vice in the form of scathing humor, or a critique of what the author sees as dangerous religious, political, moral, or social standards. Satire became an especially popular technique used during the Enlightenment, in which it was believed that an artist could correct folly by using art as a mirror to reflect society. When people viewed the satire and saw their faults magnified in a distorted reflection, they could see how ridiculous their behavior was and then correct that tendency in themselves. The tradition of satire continues today. Popular cartoons such as The Simpsons and televised comedies like The Daily Show make use of it in modern media. Conventionally, formal satire involves a direct, first-person-address, either to the audience or to a listener mentioned within the work. An example of formal satire is Alexander Pope's Moral Essays. Indirect satire conventionally employs the form of a fictional narrative--such as Byron's Don Juan or Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Ridicule, irony, exaggeration, and similar tools are almost always used in satire. Horatian satire tends to focus lightly on laughter and ridicule, but it maintains a playful tone. Generally, the tone is sympathetic and good humored, somewhat tolerant of imperfection and folly even while expressing amusement at it. The name comes from the Roman poet Horace (65 BCE-8 CE), who preferred to ridicule human folly in general rather than condemn specific persons. In contrast, Juvenalian satire also uses withering invective, insults, and a slashing attack. The name comes from the Roman poet Juvenal (60-140 CE), who frequently employed the device, but the label is applied to British writers such as Swift and Pope as…

    • 286 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jonathan Swift's 1729 essay, A Modest Proposal, was a true example of satire at its best. Many readers at the time rejected the essay because they failed to understand the irony. It is presently one of the most well known works of satire and is a classic example of the technique most commonly used today. The entire essay from the title down to the last sentence were meant to be taken ironically, which is a rare form, but very effective when trying getting a point across. This essay will explain why the text was meant to be taken ironically and why Swift used irony instead of straightforward statements.…

    • 646 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    A Modest Proposal Analysis

    • 1476 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Satire is a form of literature in which an author tries to demonstrate his or her point of view by ridiculing. The author uses heavy irony and sarcasm in order to criticize a social issue. A perfect example of a work of satire is Jonathan Swift’s A Modest Proposal. In this satirical essay, Jonathan Swift attacks on the issue of the Irish poverty in the 1700s. The essay sarcastically suggests that Ireland’s social and economic problems would be quickly solved by putting the children of impoverished Irish families on the food market. Through heavy exaggeration, Jonathan Swift’s essay provides a good insight on the themes of ignorance, human greed, and human corruption.…

    • 1476 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    SENECA ON ANGER

    • 273 Words
    • 2 Pages

    By being reasonable, Seneca argues, you give yourself time to reflect. To be able to pass a fair judgment (104), you must take your time considering the facts surrounding a given matter. By judging from a point of anger you are more likely to be unfair, because you will have overseen crucial facts in the heat of the moment. Anger will inevitably be based on stubbornness and refusal of being proved wrong, more than reason and a deliberate, well-thought-out argument.…

    • 273 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Acts of passion and acts of reason can be differentiated by a sense of underlying tension, Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’ published in 1601 explores these universal ideologies by dramatizing this underlying tension. ‘Hamlet’ presents challenging representations of the traditional values of passion and reason through their varying forms. The representation of these concepts coupled with dramatic tension conflicts with traditional plots of the Elizabethan era thus creating a sense of enduring value. The various depictions of dramatized tension that underpin the play, allows issues of passion and reason to flourish throughout as is the intention of Shakespeare.…

    • 1413 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    “Both Albee and Williams use their male characters to explore a link between virility and status in both ‘A Streetcar named Desire’ and ‘Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf’.” Showing appreciation of context and with close analysis of structure, form and language, consider to what extent you agree with this assertion.…

    • 2355 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Vivian's lover is very much like Mr. Rochester. He is rich and loves Vivian so much that he wishes to make her ‘happy' by spending money on her. Rochester shows his love in the same way to Jane. Both Jane and Vivian feel humiliated while shopping. But soon after being pampered, Vivian started to like shopping. Jane, on the other hand, absolutely hated being pampered by Mr. Rochester.…

    • 330 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Restoration in England

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages

    During the eighteenth century in England, many people believed that there was a major need for social and political reform. Satirists would often criticize English life through their literature. Two of the most important satirists of this period were Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope. Jonathan Swift was an irish writer who lived in England, and is best known for his piece, Gulliver’s Travels. Alexander Pope was a catholic and it can be argued that his most well known piece is the poem The Rape of the Lock. Although Swift and Pope had opposed writing styles, both of them demonstrated their belief in social and political reform during the Restoration era in England.…

    • 894 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In his lengthy literary career, Jonathan Swift wrote many stories that used a broad range of voices that were used to make some compelling personal statements. For example, Swifts, A Modest Proposal, is often heralded as his best use of sarcasm, satire, and irony. Yet taking into account the persona of Swift, as well as the period in which it was written, one can prove that through that same use of sarcasm and irony, this proposal is actually written to entertain the upper-class. Therefore the true irony in this story lies not in the review of minute details in the story, but rather in the context of the story as it is written. One of the voices that is present throughout the story is that of irony. The story itself is ironic since no one can take Swifts proposal seriously. This irony is clearly demonstrated at the end of…

    • 594 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics