3 Matching Annotations
  1. Feb 2021
    1. The nymph grown furious roared, “By God The blame lies all in sixty odd,” And scornful pointing to the door Cried, “Fumbler, see my face no more.”

      This is like a rap battle between the greatest of emcees. Montagu attacks Swift's ability to perform in the bedroom and his age. That's deep, clever, and surprising for the times.

    2. Repeating in his amorous fits, “Oh! Celia, Celia, Celia shits!”

      This part is funny for many reasons....isn't it reasonable to assume that Celia shits if he (Strephon) shits. It's crazy that this is a discovery worth mentioning. Also, Swift is making fun of and criticizing the imperfections of women, who have, at least, an outward appearance of perfection once they've gone through all of these primping processes. At the same time, it makes me wonder--what do the men look and smell like not ever bothering with any of these transitions?

    3. O! may she better learn to keep “Those secrets of the hoary deep.”!

      This is male privilege and misogyny at its best. Celia's privacy has been violated and yet Swift tasks her with keeping prying eyes away from her things. The intruder, Strephon, is pitied for what he finds and the subsequent disillusionment, but is not held accountable for his offense--snooping! Swift blames the victim similar to how every story of abuse plays out today. God forbid Strephon be responsible for his own actions and held to a higher standard than that of a snoop, intruder, etc. Those labels are reserved for women, I suppose.