The Scrutiny - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

The Scrutiny

By Richard Lovelace

1618-1658Slide2

The ScrutinyWhat do we understand from the title of the poem?

What might be under scrutiny in this poem? Slide3

Why should you swear I am forsworn, Since thine I vowed to be? Lady, it is already morn, 

And 'twas last night I swore to thee That fond impossibility. 

Have I not loved thee much and long, 

A tedious twelve hours' space? 

I must all other beauties wrong, 

And rob thee of a new embrace, 

Could I still dote upon thy face. 

Not but all joy in thy brown hair By others may be found;— But I must search the black and fair, Like skilful mineralists that sound For treasure in unploughed-up ground. Then if, when I have loved my round, Thou prov'st the pleasant she, With spoils of meaner beauties crowned I laden will return to thee, Ev'n sated with variety.

What might be under scrutiny in this poem? Slide4

AO3: ContextSlide5

Richard Lovelace1618-1657

Cavalier poetLovelace was born into a wealthy, military family, the eldest of eight children. His father was honoured by King James I with a knighthood and Lovelace would continue this tradition of loyalty to the crown.

At 16, he was appointed ‘Gentleman

Wayter

Extraordinary’ to the King, an

honourary

position. He studied at Oxford and achieved his degree at the age of 18.

During the conflict between parliament and the King, Lovelace was chosen by the royalists to go to the House of Commons and demand the restoration of the King’s absolute authority. He was imprisoned.When released, he returned to the King’s service. He spent time abroad then was imprisoned again; when he was released, the King had been executed. The last years of his life were spent in relative obscurity, his fortune exhausted on behalf of the King. He died in 1658 from causes unknown. Slide6

Supported the King, who in return supported their arts – most were courtiers and their poetry was to be read at court

A cavalier was originally a mounted soldier or knightThe term was originally applied to this group of poets as an insult, suggesting they were ‘roistering gallants’ (boisterous would-be heroes)

but it was claimed by those who supported Charles I

This distinguished them from the

Roundheads who supported

parliament, who were often Puritans

Cavalier PoetsSlide7

Lovelace the Cavalier

Lovelace was known as the very epitome of a Cavalier poet. He was handsome, attractive and charming and this made him a very popular addition to the court of King James I and Queen Henrietta.

“The

most amiable and beautiful person that ever eye beheld; a person also of innate modesty, virtue and courtly deportment, which made him then, but especially after, when he retired to the great city, much admired and adored by the female

sex” – Anthony Wood, contemporary.

Lovelace wrote poetry at college, to raise his reputation as a Cavalier, and as a pastime during imprisonment and his time abroad. He wrote over 200 poems.

While at college, he tried to portray himself more as a social connoisseur than as a scholar, continuing his image of being a Cavalier

. He wrote to praise a friend or fellow poet, to give advice in grief or love, to define a relationship, to articulate the precise amount of attention a man owes a woman, to celebrate beauty, and to persuade to love.Slide8

John DonneAndrew Marvell

Richard Lovelace

Metaphysical Poetry:

A

conceit

is used, bringing together two vastly different ideas into a single idea

The theme is emphasised by fantastic

metaphors

and

hyperbole

Sensuality is

blended

with philosophy; passion with intellect

The form is often an

argument

of some sort

There is often some reference to

religion

Cavalier Poetry:

Was not intended to reflect the times of the age but to

celebrate

joy and

gratification

, e.g. love, beauty, drinking, honour and timeThe poems were written as light and polished verse, usually as songs Most had classical or allegorical referencesThey were intended to promote the crown or amuse the courtThey were often romantic, bordering on erotic

Metaphysical poets Cavalier Poets

Both types of poetry featured

carpe diem

but in different ways.Slide9

AO2: Language and ImagerySlide10

Why should you swear I am forsworn, 

Since thine I vowed to be? Lady, it is already

morn

, 

And 'twas

last night

I swore to thee That fond impossibility. What is the poet saying here?Why is it significant that we see the personal pronoun ‘I’ three times here? What tone is created by this and the rhetorical question? What is the implication of the word ‘fond’? Notice the movement of time, here. The speaker refers to the past and the

present

. What has changed?Slide11

Lady, it is already morn

‘Lady’ is a

trochee

. This subtly alters the stress of the line from the iambs used elsewhere and – along with the

caesura

immediately after it – thus draws attention to the word ‘lady’.

Why might Lovelace have done this?

Hint: how might the term ‘lady’ be ironic here? How does this add to our understanding of why the ‘vow’ might be seen as ‘impossible’ to the speaker? Slide12

Have I not loved thee much and long, A

tedious twelve hours' space? 

What is the poet saying here?

What length of time does he consider ‘much and long’? How does the

alliteration

of the next line add to this idea?

Compare this time frame to the use of time to flatter in ‘Coy Mistress’.Slide13

I must

all other beauties wrong, 

And rob thee of a new embrace

, 

Could I still

dote

upon thy face. 

What is he suggesting she should do whilst he is gone?How does this link to the focus on ‘lady’ in the previous verse? What do you make of the verb ‘rob’, here? The word ‘beauties’ to refer to women reinforces their objectification by the speaker.‘All other’ suggests the scale of his plans.How does the verb ‘wrong’ add to our understanding of the speaker’s intentions?

What does the word ‘dote’ suggest about the speaker’s feelings towards the woman? Slide14

Not but all joy in thy brown hair 

By others may be found;— But I

must

search the black and fair, 

Like skilful

mineralists

that sound 

For treasure in unploughed-up ground. This reference to ‘others’ continues the idea in the previous stanza that she will be with other men.How does this add to ‘dote’ from the last stanza?

We now move to the speaker’s immediate future.

AO2 focus:

the woman is reduced to her hair colour and other women are referred to by theirs – the speaker is searching through different hair colours, different women, until he finds their ‘treasure’. He will

scrutinise

these women.

Let’s examine this

simile

a little more…

What does the word ‘must’ suggest about the speaker’s feelings? Slide15

Like skilful mineralists that sound 

For treasure in unploughed-up ground.

What impact does this

simile

have on the status of the speaker and of the women?

What does this

metaphor

suggest?Hint: what might the ‘treasure’ be? Why are the women considered ‘unploughed-up ground’? This image can also link to pastoral poetry in which the female body is a landscape to be enjoyed. AO4:

what does the modern expression ‘playing the field’ mean? Can this be linked to the ideas in this stanza? Slide16

Then if

, when I have loved my round, Thou prov'st

the pleasant she, 

With

spoils

of meaner beauties

crowned

 I laden will return to thee, Ev'n sated with variety.What is the poet saying here?What is the significance of the conditional ‘if’?What about ‘prov’st’?

A roundabout course; a bit like a ‘grand tour’ such as the one young men took around Europe as a rite of passage.

The language of battle is used here, positioning the speaker as a victor and women as conquests. Promiscuity is here presented as an acceptable form of male leisure.

We now move to the speaker’s more distant future…Slide17

Ev'n sated

with variety.This final image is one of greed, gluttony and selfishness. He will return to the woman when he has had enough of the ‘variety’ of other women, when he is ‘sated’, and if

she is proven to be the most ‘pleasant’ of them all.

Carpe Diem?

AO4:

Who is ‘seizing the day’ here? How does this compare with the poems of Donne and Marvell? Slide18

AO3: Remember that the intended audience of this poem was other male members of the court. In Lovelace’s time this poem would be set to music, performed and received as a song. It was not intended to be read.

Does this affect the way we read it?Can we argue that it is meant to be for entertainment only? How does it tie in with the idea of the heroic male Cavalier? Would women of the time have found it as shocking as a modern audience? Slide19

AO2: Form / StructureSlide20

Why should you swear I am forsworn, Since thine I vowed to be? Lady, it is already morn, 

And 'twas last night I swore to thee That fond impossibility. 

Have I not loved thee much and long, 

A tedious twelve hours' space? 

I must all other beauties wrong, 

And rob thee of a new embrace, 

Could I still dote upon thy face. 

Not but all joy in thy brown hair By others may be found;— But I must search the black and fair, Like skilful mineralists that sound For treasure in unploughed-up ground. Then if, when I have loved my round, Thou prov'st the pleasant she, With spoils of meaner beauties crowned I laden will return to thee, Ev'n sated with variety.

Can you identify the rhyme scheme? Slide21

A Why should you swear I am forsworn, B

Since thine I vowed to be? A Lady

, it is already morn, 

B

And

'twas last night I swore to thee 

A

That fond impossibility. A Have I not loved thee much and long, B A tedious twelve hours' space? A I must all other beauties wrong, B And rob thee of a new embrace, A Could I still dote upon thy face. A

Not

but all joy in thy brown hair 

B

By

others may be found;— 

A

But

I must search the black and fair, 

B

Like

skilful

mineralists

that sound 

A

For

treasure in unploughed-up ground. 

A Then if, when I have loved my round, B Thou prov'st the pleasant she, A With spoils of meaner beauties crowned B I laden will return to thee, A

Ev'n sated with variety.Slide22

A Why should you swear I am forsworn, B

Since thine I vowed to be? A Lady, it is already morn, B

And 'twas last night I swore to thee 

A

That fond impossibility. 

The rhyme scheme is regular, adding to the impression

of a lighthearted

song. Most, but not all, lines are written in iambic tetrameter. The poem is a monologue – we do not hear the woman’s voice, only the (male) speaker’s.This should remind us of Donne: like him, Lovelace is presenting an argument so, like him, he uses a regular rhyme scheme and meter. Each stanza develops the speaker’s argument. This gives it a sense of being calculated. One interpretation of the changing meter is that it represents the speaker’s search for the most ‘pleasant she’. Not all women are created equal. What do you think?Slide23

AO4/5: Links and InterpretationsSlide24

“Some readers might consider the poem to be spoken with the arch, knowing tone of a seducer, who displays arrogance as he uses his powers of rhetoric to argue his way out of commitment, cynically offering the possibility of a reunion to clinch his case. Others might find ambiguity and suggest that the speaker does love the addressee, but is being honest

about his sexual needs”“This poem articulates the pose of the careless Cavalier for whom love is nothing more than a game.”

“It is a rather nasty poem: cruel, clever and somehow lacking in real emotion.”

Do you agree?

“The Scrutiny is little more than a misogynistic fantasy that privileges male desire and objectified women.”Slide25

Examine

the view that Richard Lovelace presents the speaker in this poem as having a selfish attitude to love. Think about:

The characteristics of love

The representation of the people involved

The feelings of the speaker

Any imagery or language used

The way the structure and form reflects this

Use the AQA specimen commentary on this question to help you plan and write an answer.Slide26

Fill in your CLIFS sheet for this poem. Remember, this will be a revision aid!