When Lovely Woman Stoops to Folly
By Oliver Goldsmith When lovely woman stoops to folly, And finds too late that men betray, What charm can soothe her melancholy? What art can wash her tears away? The only art her guilt to cover, To hide her shame from ev’ry eye, To give repentance to her lover, And wring his bosom is—to die. This poem was written by a poet of the 1700s which, as we all now, was not the height of women’s rights or respect. This poem was initially published in a novel called “The Vicar of Wakefield”, in this scene, the man, Squire Thornhill, has seduced a woman named Olivia, and conned her into running away with him where he will eventually leave her as he has done to numerous women previously. This poem is about Olivia’s regret and remorse after ruining her reputation and betraying her family for this man. Though Olivia’s only crime was falling in love with a bad man, she still feels intense guilt over this act. She sees herself as stooping to “folly”, as she has made a major error in judgement in the first line of the poem. This line is followed by a simple explanation, to the source of her troubles: “men betray”. Olivia is looking for solace in this trying time. She feels she has nothing anymore as she has abandoned her family for him and is now seen as a used woman. In her search for peace, she wonders what can ease “her melancholy” and what “can wash her tears away”. The second stanza of this poem shifts to a dark side of Olivia’s thought progression. Under the guilt that covers her, she is looking for a solution to ease her suffering. Olivia was once a respected member of society and was always highly focused on her appearance and social position. Now, the whole town knows she has been left like the other women the Squire has abandoned, who have all ended up as prostitutes. Olivia deals with the “shame from ev’ry eye” which only adds to her melancholy state. These feelings eventually drive Olivia to contemplate suicide, as seen in the final two lines. For her, it seems the only solution to put her on top of this situation. It’s interesting to reflect on this woman’s problem that seems so dated and of an entirely different time period (with squires and such), but put in a contemporary mold, this situation is actually a common occurrence. I think there are many situations of women being used by their respective partners and preceding to blame themselves for the relationship going sour. Goldsmith’s poem highlights an interesting time period with an unfortunate turn in a relationship that is very telling to male-female interactions of the 1700s.
2 Comments
Jack Fitzgerald
4/5/2017 09:21:00 am
In your review you mention how melancholy the woman in the poem is, and I feel as though that's massively accented in the modern world, even though it isn't said in the poem itself, applies to many people now. Today, people are constantly fooled and decieved for personal gain, and this poem has the secondary meaning of accenting this.
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Matt
8/1/2021 11:47:24 am
The Goldsmith poem is misquoted here. It is her guilt that cannot be washed away. Without that the point is lost. If you choose to analyze a poem it should be quoted correctly.
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