Commonplace Entry 4: Epistle 2. To a Lady of the Characters of Women
Alexander Pope explores what it means to be an 18th century woman in his address to his close friend Martha Blount. Says Pope "...Proud as a peeress, prouder as a punk (harlot); Chaste to her husband, frank to all beside, a teeming mistress, but a barren bride..." (645).
Pope's satirical approach to women's sexuality touches on the duality he observes in women's character in English culture. He calls out women who are two-faced, those that appear virtuous to their husbands but have the tendency to flirt or sleep around like a harlot. Perhaps this commentary is an aside to the marriage institution as much as it is on women's character. It's difficult to distinguish whether women are innately dualistic, or their social economic circumstances require this dualism for survival. Either way Pope is eager to weigh in on women's characters as a moral issue worthy of writing to and publishing about.
Pope, Alexander. Epistle 2. To a Lady: Of the Characters of Women, The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 10th Edition, Volume C, The Restoration and The Eighteenth Century, New York, London, W.W. Norton Company, 2018, pp. 645.