One is not born a woman but becomes one' : presenting women's "different materiality" through the mock-heroic epic

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the way women were treated during seventeenth and eighteenth century England through their portrayal in John Dryden's and Alexander Pope's mock-heroic epics with specific references to Dryden's 'Absalom and Achitophel' and Pope's 'Rape of the Lock' and 'The Dunciad'. This dissertation will first explore women's roles in the social construct of the family; their roles as wives, mothers, lovers and carers of the family and the home. With constant reference to 'The Rape of the Lock' along with examples of Belinda's and Clarissa's descriptions by the poet, this dissertation will show the expectations society had from women. In addition, Belinda's and Clarissa's behavior symbolise the way women behaved at the time. Of course, Pope exaggerates such behavior in order to make his satire more poignant. Women's public roles are also discussed in this dissertation with continual reference to 'Absalom and Achitophel'. The fact that 'Absalom and Achitophel' barely features women is a message in itself. This lack of females in Dryden's political satire mirrors the reality of England at the time. Hence, women rarely occupied important social roles. Additionally, the few times women are mentioned in the poem, they are either compared to monsters, to Satan or else described as being passive and indifferent. Furthermore, this dissertation will compare and contrast Dryden and Pope's styles of writing. Using their two major political satires 'Absalom and Achitophel' and 'The Dunciad' respectively, I will show their different ways of satirising the female counterpart. Additionally, I will also explore the similarities in their modes of writing by always referring to the two poems mentio