Research Seminar: ‘Poems about women from eighteenth-century Ireland’, Dr Andrew Carpenter

On the 2nd of October, I had the pleasure of attending a seminar given by Dr Andrew Carpenter on the subject of poems written about women from 18th century Ireland. Before his talk commenced, Dr Carpenter handed out extracts from the poems he would be discussing to everyone in attendance. I found this very helpful when following his dissection of each poem. He explored poems submitted anonymously as well as poems by writers such as James Delacourt, Thomas Moore, Mary Tighe and Dorothea Dubois.

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             Mary Tighe, Thomas Parnell and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
(Images sourced from The Irish Aesthete and Wikimedia Commons)

Dr Carpenter highlighted that verse was an encouraged method of self-expression in the 18th century. Many poems were submitted to journals and newspapers under pseudonyms. He noted that male poetry often featured Classical influences, as men would have been more educated than women in the time period. He also noted that when it came to writing about women, male writers often wrote with a jaunty, irresponsible attitude. Many of the poems revolve around sexual desire. Others expressed a disdainful attitude towards women, such as ‘To an Old Beauty’ (1722) by Thomas Parnell, which mocks a woman’s attempt to appear youthful:

“In vain, poor Nymph, to please our youthful sight
You sleep in Cream and Frontlets all the Night,
Your Face with Patches soil, with Paint repair,
Dress with gay gowns, and shade with foreign hair.
If Truth in spight of Manners must be told,
Why, really, Fifty-Five is something old….”

‘Six Stages of Mending a Face’. A 1792 Rowlandson caricature of Lady Archer
(Image sourced from A Historical Miscellany)

This poem features the same sentiments expressed in Jonathan Swift’s poem ‘The Lady’s Dressing Room’ (1732), in which Swift also satirizes the attempts of a woman to portray a youthful and idealised appearance. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu wrote a poem in response to this entitled ‘The Reasons that Induced Dr. S. to Write a Poem Call’d the Lady’s Dressing Room’ (1734), in which she gives Swift a taste of his own medicine. She suggests that Swift’s need to attack women stems from his own sexual inadequacy and frustration. She also finishes with the brilliantly scathing final line:

“She answered short, “I’m glad you’ll write.
You’ll furnish paper when I shite.”

To read more about Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, click here!

Poems written by women about women were much more sympathetic to female suffering and oppression than that of their male counterparts. Some poems explored anxiety about ageing, but as in the case of ‘The Old Maid’s Prayer to Diana’ (1805) by Mary Tighe, a more positive view of ageing was also expressed. Tighe seemed to long for the freedom to embrace her status as an “Old Maid”, without judgement:

“Since thou and the stars, my dear goddess, decree,
That Old Maid as I am, an Old Maid I must be,
O hear the petition I offer to thee –
For to bear it must be my endeavour:
From the grief of my friendships all dropping around,
Till not one whom I loved in my youth can be found –
From the legacy-hunters that near us abound,
Diana, thy servant deliver…..”

Dr Carpenter highlighted that ideas of sin and shame frequently appeared in poetry about women, indicating that both religion and society were male-dominated. The spirit of the French Revolution inspired many Irish female writers to stand up for themselves. They wanted to find a way to get involved in the revolution. Many poems of the 18th century featured cross-dressing, such as ‘The Female Drummer’ (1794), an anonymously published poem:

“….Throughout Dublin city was my recruiting tour,
But for which reason I’d be a maid to this hour.
A lady fell in love with me whom I told I was a maid,
The secret to my officer she instantly betrayed.
My Commander sent for me to know if it was real;
The question he asked me I could not conceal.”

Women often made use of irony and parody in their poems as a defense against the oppression they experienced. Dr Carpenter emphasised that a good parody is the same words in a different context, a maxim often adhered to by female poets. An example of the satirical way in which women asserted themselves in their poetry can be seen in ‘The Amazonian Gift’ (1764) by Dorothea Dubois. She defends a woman’s right to fight alongside men and live an independent life:

“Is Courage in a Woman’s Breast
Less pleasing than in Man?
And is a smiling Maid allow’d
No Weapon but a Fan?

‘Tis true her Tongue, I’ve heard ‘em say
Is Woman’s chief Defence:
And if you’ll b’lieve me, gentle Youths,
I have no aid from thence.

And some will say that sparking Eyes,
More dang’rous are than Swords;
But I ne’er point my Eyes to kill,
Nor put I trust in Words.

Then, since the Arms that Women use
Successless are in me,
I’ll take the Pistol, Sword or Gun,
And thus equip’d live free.

The Pattern of the Spartan Dame
I’ll copy as I can:
To Man, degen’rate Man, I’ll give
That simple Thing, a Fan.”

I really enjoyed this seminar, finding it engaging and informative. It introduced me to female writers that I have never heard of before and would like to research more. Dr Carpenter mentioned that Charlotte MacCarthy was the first lesbian Irish poet to be published, and I would love to read more of her work. I’m also interested in reading more work by Mary Tighe and Dorothea Dubois. Their poetry allowed women’s voices to be heard in a time when they were often dismissed.