To His Coy Mistress - A Feminist Perspective

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A Feminist Perspective of To His Coy Mistress

Andrew Marvell, a 17-century poetry writer, focuses on a subject that still baffles the readers' minds today, sex. Marvell shows a world where women are seduced. Women and men have focused on the issue of sex for centuries. The most ironic thing that reader should notice while reading this poem is that even though they are in two different time settings, the same persuasions are used as an argument in Marvell's time as well as the present. Although he uses love and time as reasons why should she have sex with him his main focus his her body. The Marble Vault is a part of her body, the female genital. Marvell shows the patriotic attitude that it is okay to make this argument to a woman. In other words it is ok for a male to be aggressive and antagonizing towards a female.

The young lady in "To His Coy Mistress" is definitely not to be taken for a mere fool because he would not have gone to great lengths to convince her to give her body to him. His word to describe the young lady as coy shows her response to his question. The speaker seems to be desperate while he attempts to win her over. His mood began to change in the poem from calm to impatient just by the use of his words. By the end he even contradicts himself. In the beginning he states:

"Of humber would complain. I would

Love you ten years before the flood,

And you should, if you please, refuse

Till the conversation of the Jews

My vegetable love should grow

Vaster then empires and more slow;...

... middle of paper ...

...ove) " My echoing song; thenworms shall try that long perserved virginity/ And your qaint honer turned to dust/And into ashes all my lust". He is talking about rough sex. He wants to be involved with her physically instead of love which is lust thus stated in the last qoute.. Finally we come to the concluding point where feminists would call this guy a creep. Pleasure is the speaker's main concern. The body is definitely the speaker focus. He makes references to parts of her body. He talks about her eyes, her forehead, her breasts, the rest and every part.

In conclusion "To His Coy Mistress" contains a sexual theme. He uses the "marble vault" and points towards death to scare and win the young lady over. In the 21st Century men use the same tactics as well. This shows that the people were not much different from today.

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