Issues in poetry of pope: a review of carole fabricant article

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Critique of Alexander Pope by Carole Fabricante

Defining Self and Others : Pope and Eighteenth Century Gender Ideology ' - Carole Fabricante . This is an in depth critique by Carole Fabricante of eighteenth century gender ideologies in which Fabricante uses the poet Alexander Pope 's poetry as an example of changing thoughts towards gender roles . In particular , or as a specific argument Fabricante warns about the use of `active voices ' to relate the situations , circumstances and feelings of the `passive . Herein she discusses the dangers of allowing others who

attempt to empathise with the voiceless , to become the main petition for the said people . The eighteenth century being a time in which women were largely relegated to the `seen and not heard ' caste , Fabricante examines Pope 's position not only as a protagonist for the `unspoken , but also as devils advocate She describes Pope 's own history as a crippled and deformed individual whose own identity is compromised by his inability to conform to the socialized standards of masculinity . This would naturally grant Pope a greater ability to empathize with the underdog . Deformed , dwarfish sickly , and probably impotent as a result of having contracted spinal tuberculosis in infancy , Pope was someone whose "manhood " was continually being called into question both by his enemies in print and by the women in his life , not to mention by his own ironic perceptions of himself (Fabricante . As a result of his own deformity , Fabricante asserts that his own idea of patriarchal power hierarchy and that this may at some level give him a greater lease to speak for those who `cannot . Pope is by no means a passive voice , although speaking as a women in poems such as Eloisa to Abelard ' and Epistle to Miss Blount , Fabricante does question whether Pope uses a form of political satire to direct is ideas . However Fabricante does admit the following

Pope 's ambiguous and contradictory position in society affords us the opportunity to explore the dialectical interaction between the voices of marginality and dominance as these vye , not only among different groups in society , but also within a single personality and consciousness (Fabricante

The as a whole questions the usage over time of , artists and activists in to speak for others , believing that this is not a clear or authentic view of those individuals . She compares Pope 's representation of women to that of Swift , another eighteenth century poet . In this comparison she examines the subtlety with which Pope describes women as a victim of choice-less marriages and breeding stock as opposed to Swifts considerably less authentic identification . She also explores the use of objectification of women as an entity for which the primary necessity it fulfils , are men

As an exploratory , Fabricante does touch on a great deal of the effects of subjugation of women as the `other ' over time . This is particularly important in an era such as the eighteenth century where the socialized acceptance by women of their...