Literary Criticism of Swift’s Poetry Essay -- Swift

Literary Criticism of blue-bellys PoetryIn her article, Voyeurism in Swifts Poetry, Louise K. Barnett explores the leaning of voyeurism m the works of Jonathan Swift. She speaks more often than not about the recitation of this technique in his work and concentrates on a few poems including The Ladys stuffing agency. Barnett recollects that Swifts poetry tends to be more voyeuristic than it is ghost with excrement and decay. To conduct this, she maintains that each poem centers around the experience of perceive the obscenity (i.e. The Ladys preparation Room revolves around Strephons response to Celias dirt and dung) quite a than the obscenity. Barnett claims that the act should unwrap readers more than the content What is seen in Swift - a pathetic floozy disrobing, a low cover room and lavatory - is not authentically extraordinary the appropriation of private experience and the poetic vindication of it atomic number 18 more so. (18) The incident that Swift looks at (and writes about) the private look constitutes a betrayal that should suffer the reader uneasy. (19) In light of this, Barnett suggests What makes voyeurism such a powerful esthetic strategy is its violation of the taboo of privacy, its denial of a condition that we evolve for granted as our right - namely, not to be observed in certain places, at certain times, doing certain things. 17 The private livelihood consists of details that the public lifetime would alternatively get across or at least hide. (17) If one person examines the private life of another (i.e. Strephon sees Celias dressing room), the credibility of that public life is destroyed for him or her. If a enlarged number of people examine that private life (i.e. readers of Swifts The Ladys Dressing Room), the public facade is totally dest... ...tion of some associate of improper behavior. (20) I found Bametts article engaging but awkward to digest. She tries to fit speech like obverse and espousal into he r work smoothly, but instead leaves the reader gushy over her words with a dictionary nearby. (This seems to be a trend in literary criticism - apparently, the bigger your words, the more people believe that you know something they dont) She sets up her argument for The Ladys Dressing Room, A Beautiful green Nymph Going to Bed, and The Legion Club to be considered voyeuristic rather than scatological efficiently. Though I disagree, her belief that Swift objectifies women just as the Romantics he critiqued deserves merit. The only downfall is the abuse of a thesaurus. Works Cited Barnett, Louise K. Voyeurism in Swifts Poetry. Studies in the Literary Imagination. Spring l984 17-26. Literary Criticism of Swifts Poetry Essay -- SwiftLiterary Criticism of Swifts PoetryIn her article, Voyeurism in Swifts Poetry, Louise K. Barnett explores the trend of voyeurism m the works of Jonathan Swift. She speaks broadly about the use of this technique in his work and concentrates on a few poems including The Ladys Dressing Room. Barnett believes that Swifts poetry tends to be more voyeuristic than it is obsessed with excrement and decay. To support this, she maintains that each poem centers around the experience of seeing the obscenity (i.e. The Ladys Dressing Room revolves around Strephons response to Celias dirt and dung) rather than the obscenity. Barnett claims that the act should offend readers more than the content What is seen in Swift - a pathetic streetwalker disrobing, a disordered dressing room and lavatory - is not truly extraordinary the appropriation of private experience and the poetic vindication of it are more so. (18) The fact that Swift looks at (and writes about) the private life constitutes a betrayal that should make the reader uneasy. (19) In light of this, Barnett suggests What makes voyeurism such a powerful aesthetic strategy is its violation of the taboo of privacy, its denial of a condition that we take for granted as our right - namely, not to be observed in certain places, at certain times, doing certain things. 17 The private life consists of details that the public life would rather deny or at least hide. (17) If one person examines the private life of another (i.e. Strephon sees Celias dressing room), the credibility of that public life is destroyed for him or her. If a large number of people examine that private life (i.e. readers of Swifts The Ladys Dressing Room), the public facade is totally dest... ...tion of some sort of improper behavior. (20) I found Bametts article engaging but difficult to digest. She tries to fit words like obverse and espousal into her work smoothly, but instead leaves the reader pouring over her words with a dictionary nearby. (This seems to be a trend in literary criticism - apparently, the bigger your words, the more people believe that you know something they dont) She sets up her argument for The Ladys Dressing Room, A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed, and The Legio n Club to be considered voyeuristic rather than scatological efficiently. Though I disagree, her belief that Swift objectifies women just as the Romantics he critiqued deserves merit. The only downfall is the abuse of a thesaurus. Works Cited Barnett, Louise K. Voyeurism in Swifts Poetry. Studies in the Literary Imagination. Spring l984 17-26.