Although Clarinda is a female in an anatomical sense, she not only is a "fair lovely maid" but also a "lovely charming youth," which is a description that would be associated more with males (lines 1, 4). summary of To The Fair Clarinda; central theme; idea of the verse; history of its creation; critical appreciation. He or she (the reader should not assume that the speaker is either Behn or even necessarily female) can not refer to Clarinda as a “maid” because this word is too weak and feminine (1); therefore, by contrasting nobility with weakness and femininity, the speaker seems to be gendering the word noble as male: weak femininity versus strong masculinity. This alternate reading of the term maid consequently proposes an alternate interpretation of the essential bodily element that makes Clarinda “too feminine” in relation to the “maid” (now, male virgin). The Bartholomew Fair Community Note includes chapter-by-chapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. Gender Ambiguity in Aphra Behn’s “To The Fair Clarinda, Who Made Love To Me, Imagined More Than Woman” February 10, 2010 at 10:19 pm (Uncategorized) The narrator in Aphra Behn’s “To The Fair Clarinda, Who Made Love To Me, Imagined More Than Woman” begins the poem with a consideration of which “title” is most appropriate for addressing Clarinda (line 1). I'm O'er Young To Marry Yet. Print.In the opening couplet, the speaker is setting up an opposition between “weak” and “feminine” on the one hand, and “nobler” on the other (line 2). Song--My Hoggie. Not affiliated with Harvard College.Read the Study Guide for Bartholomew Fair…Bartholomew Fair study guide contains a biography of Ben Jonson, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.Written by people who wish to remain anonymous We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own.
Finally, the speaker settles on “youth,” a gender-neutral term which is able to encompass Clarinda’s feminine and masculine qualities (4). They are looking to get the upper hand over one another, so they individually resort to deception in order to misinform the next guy. The presentation will entail a close reading of 10-20 lines of that week’s set text (you will be asked to turn in a short summary of the presentation).
Does this mean that Clarinda’s feminine exterior conceals some hidden masculine anatomy? The speaker acknowledges having made love to Clarinda in the poem’s title; if the speaker is female (the expectation of which Behn is obviously playing with), then the perception of Clarinda as partially male could reflect a perception of lesbian or bisexual women (in the behavioral sense, the other sense is considered anachronistic) as partially male in spirit, a perception that could be either cultural or specific to the speaker.As early as 1398 AD, noble as an adjective also described something that was “of a part of the body; important; spec. To the Fair Clarinda Who Made Love to Me, Imagin’d More than Woman Fair lovely Maid, or if that Title be Too weak, too Feminine for Nobler thee, Permit a Name that more Approaches Truth: And let me call thee, Lovely Charming Youth. For
The first assignment (a commonplace book) allows students to practise a range of generic forms as part of their commonplace book entries (article/book reviews, presentation summary, journal entries, short critical analyses, etc).
It’s almost too obvious to interpret the poem as being about an actual hermaphrodite: the poem hits the reader over the head with it in such a heavy-handed way (images of snakes in the grass, references to Hermes and Aphrodite), that the reader has to take a step back and assume that the poem is just too obvious to be about what it seems to be so obviously about.Perhaps, rather than possessing a male body part, Clarinda actually partakes in the conceptually masculine act of sexual promiscuity.
February 10, 2010 at 10:19 pm (The narrator in Aphra Behn’s “To The Fair Clarinda, Who Made Love To Me, Imagined More Than Woman” begins the poem with a consideration of which “title” is most appropriate for addressing Clarinda (line 1).
Littewit is the first to suggest they steal the marriage license from Deception is the common thread which ties all the men together.