Gender Roles in 17th Century

Gender Roles in 17th Century Poetry

Poems of Frustration and Desire

Sex has been the topic of poets, but sex is not always perfect, as one can learn from the poets of old. Sometimes sex can lead to great frustration and disappointment, as we shall see from an examination of two classic poems. "The Imperfect Enjoyment" by John Wilmot explores the love of his life, by degrading other women whom he has had in the past. "The Disappointment" by Aphra Behm explores sexual impotence and the disappointment that it brings. Both of these poems explore the nuances of love and the frustration that can result when the match is not necessarily made in heaven. This exploration of these two poems will examine how social class, gender, and culture can be distinguished in the poems and the affect that it has on the narrator of the poem. It will support the thesis that these two poems provide a portrayal of societal class and power structures between males and females of the time.

Class and Social Structure

The elements of class and social structure are most evident Wilmot's "The Imperfect Enjoyment." The author talks of his love, whom is the love of his life. The lover that he is with is better than the others with whom he has lain. In line 50, the author suggests that he has been with many lovers in the past, but that they were so inferior to his current love that they are not worth mentioning at all. The speaker expresses his poor opinion of the lovers of the past. In line 50, all of the other women are lumped into the "common" category.

His mention of the oyster lady indicates a women whose job it is to cut up oysters and sell them on the street. She typically has the smell of fish about her. The other women that are mentioned include a cinder and beggar, other lowly jobs. The women are lumped into the category of common whore, indicating that the author of the poem does not seem them as worthy of his attention. Although he does not directly state the social class of his love, he suggests that she is of a higher class by comparison to the other women of his past. This comparison provides the reader a clue that his current love is not of the same class as the women of his past. Another clue as to the role of class in this poem is that the author is the Early of Rochester. The current love is worthy of his love, as well.

The narrator in "The Imperfect Enjoyment" indicates that he does not even know the names of the women that he has had in the past. This suggests that the relationship was not intimate. However, he does mention the name of his current love, and his attention demonstrates that she will not go into the annals of his past, unremembered lovers. Corinna is special and his reactions to her very touch reveal a much deeper emotion than he expressed for his lovers of the past.

Wilmot uses comparison and contrast to demonstrate his feelings about his current lover. The focus of his desire for his women of the past was centered on his own pleasure. He did not care for them at all. However, this is not the case with his present love. This time, he wishes to please her, but he is disappointed when he finds himself impotent at the moment when he desires only to please her.

The two characters in "The Imperfect Enjoyment" are both of the upper class. However, when we examine the role of impotence in the poem "The Disappointment" one will find that impotence crosses class barriers. The two actor in Behm's poem involves shepherd and a shepherdess. These are lowly elements of society.

Gender Roles in the Two Poems

Gender roles in late 17th century society were well-defined and women and men were expected to play specific roles in the bedroom. The man was supposed to be the aggressor an the woman was supposed to be demure and passive. This representation of sexual power also was symbolic of the power roles between men and women at the time as well. In Behm's poem it is the shepherdess who established dominance over her lover, thus reversing traditional gender roles. The women in this case is the aggressor and the men are passive. This may have been an early attempt at feminism.

In both poems the inability to perform sexually is a sign of male weakness. These poems tell the reader that a man's ability in the bedroom is intimately linked to their worthiness as a member of the male gender. In Wilmot's poem, the man bemoans his inability to ejaculate and equates paints a pathetic picture of himself for his inability in this area. "But I, the most forlorn, lost man alive,/to show my wished obedience vainly strive:/I sigh, alas! And kiss, but cannot swive [screw]" (Wilmot, lines 25-27). This indicates to the reader that the man feels that if he were a noble man, then he would be able to better perform in the bedroom. Nobility is associated with power and the inability to ejaculate at the proper time is associated with the power and prestige of a person.

Wilmot focuses on the affects of his inability to ejaculate on himself. He says that it causes him "shame" (line 29) and he finds himself "Trembling, confused, despairing, limber, dry,/a wishing, weak," (line 35). Wilmot focuses on the affects of the inability to ejaculate on himself. Only in he last line does he mention the affects on his inability to please Corinna. This does show that he is concerned about her pleasure, but her woes do not get equal attention. A majority of the suffering is placed on the male narrator.

Behm's poem demonstrates a different viewpoint on the affect of impotence. In the eighth stanza, we find the affect of his impotence on her. By the twelfth stanza, she runs from the bed, leaving him to lie in shame for his inability to finish the job, "And strewed with blushes all her face, Which both disdain and shame exprest; and from Lisander's arms she fled," (Behm, line 118-120). Like Wilmot, Behm also focuses on the shame that impotence brings to the man. In lines 103-107 we find the shepherd in great shame and despair.

"The poor Lisander in despair

Renounced his reason with his life.

Now all the brisk and active fire

That should the nobler part inflame,

Served to increase his rage and shame," (Behm, lines 103-107).

In both poems, the man is stripped of his power by his inability to ejaculate. Both men suffer the ultimate frustration. Now, we know that the more distressed the men become, the less likely that they will be able to ejaculate in the future. However, this was not known at the time of the authorship of these two poems.

Another observation about gender roles and power in the two poems examined is that in "The Imperfect Enjoyment" the women is the passive recipient of the disappointment. She does nothing to actively steal the power of her lover. In Behm's poem, the woman actively tries to sap the power from the impotent male. She leaves the bed, leaving him in his own despair. She expresses both disdain and shame for him (line 127). In line 140, we find that the woman resents the man for his inability to please her. Behm's female character takes an active role in the shame that is imposed on the man, lowering his status and his power over the woman. This does not happen in Wilmot's poem and the male character still retains his place of power and the woman must passively accept his fate. These two examples demonstrate that men held a slightly higher position in society than men. It is not known how Behm's ideas about power and gender were accepted, but they represented a dramatic departure from the traditional passive female role.

The language used to describe the act of sex and the body parts involved are dramatically different between the two poems as well. Wilmot uses derogatory terms that have the affect of demeaning women to a certain degree. This same act is handled differently in Behm's poem. Behm uses suggestion, subtle language clues and imagery of classic mythology to convey the same message. Language is a key to understanding traditional gender roles in the two poems examined. The crass language used by Wilmot tells the reader what his real opinion about women entails and the place that they have in his life.

Behm reverses the role of the passive woman and makes her the aggressor and recipient of the man's advances. However, she demonstrates by her actions that her sense of personal power is not tied up in the advances of a man. In Wilmot's poem, the feeling of power lost is apparent from the male perspective, but the power is not transferred from the male to the female, as it is in Behm's work. In Wilmot's power the woman stays weak and never takes charge. There are many underlying issues that that are uncovered in the treatment of gender roles within the society in which these poems were written.

Men are expected to have a voracious appetite for sex. This appetite for sex is equated with power and power is the key defining feature of male identity. Gender roles and structures of oppression are clear in Wilmot's poem. Behm tears them down on a number of levels in her work. Thus, Behm lashes out against oppression against women, which was the norm in her society. The woman in Wilmot's poem is the object of desire. She displays the perfect response to male advances. She is at first hesitant and reluctant, but later gives in to his advances. In this way, she acts in the manner of a proper lady. The women are not supposed to be promiscuous. To simple give in to his advances would not be the actions of a proper lady. The proper lady must first resist before giving in to his advances. The forward control exhibited by the woman in Behm's poem would be considered to be lewd undesirable because of her outward style of sexual advances towards the male.

Another aspect of the impotence in these two poems is the suggestion of the time from that is imposed on the condition. In "The Imperfect Enjoyment" we suspect that the condition is temporary. It will be restored at some time in the future, as indicated by line 24, "Than fire to ashes could past flames restore." In "The Disappointment" the imagery suggests that the condition is permanent and enjoyment will never be restored the power will never be restored and the man's impotence is a permanent condition. This suggests that the man's power will be gone forever, ushering in a new age of woman's power and the beginning of echoes of he woman's suffrage movement that would not reach its culmination until several hundred years later.

Society at the time promoted the idea that the woman had to remain virtuous all the time. However, the man was expected to be sexually active, as a symbol of his power and prestige. This resulted in a double jeopardy for women. They were not supposed to actively enjoy sex, but they were expected to passively accept it. Behm's poem lashes out at this double standard and attempts to set a new tone for male/female interactions by portraying the strong women figure who is in control over the weaker male figure. The two poems examined in this research study are excellent examples of gender roles in their respective affect on the lives of men and women at the time of their writing.

Profanity and Culture

Wilmot's use of profanity was apparently meant to shock the reader, but how it was received by the contemporary reader is not known. By today's standards he poem is harsh and crude. The direct use of profane language and the references to body parts is a male perspective. It would be allowable for a male writer of the time, but it would have been scandalous for a woman to use that type of language. Woman were supposed to be the gentile gender. They were expected to be more refined in their nature and to use such language would have been considered to be only reserved for those of lower status. The softened style of Behm further supports that this poem was written by a woman.