Humility In The 17th Century Analysis

Humility, Modesty, and Helplessness in the 17th Century
The main central ideas in Tartuffe, by Moliere and The Rape of the Lock, by Alexander Pope is the role women play in the 17th century. women are the embodiment of humility, modesty, and helplessness. Physical and social beauty was very important in the 17th century. A woman had no say in anything. The two characters that represent humility, modesty, and helplessness are Mariane from Tartuffe and Belinda from The Rape of the Lock.

During the 17th and 18th century, women were not treated very nice. They had little authority regarding anything. Women were owned by the men, and whatever the men said, the women would do. According to The Norton Anthology of English Literature, "Unmarried virgins and wives were to maintain silence in the public sphere and give unstinting obedience to father and husband, though widows had some scope for making their own decisions and managing their affairs." The only Job women could take up is being a wife and mother.

Physical and social beauty was very important in the 17th century. This poem is about a woman's lock of hair getting cut off. It might not sound like such a big deal, however, in the 17th-century women cherished their hair. Pope says, "Th' inferior priestess, at her altar's side, trembling begins her sacred rights of pride" (1. 127-128). When the lock of her hair was cut off, she felt humiliated and helpless. Men would wear their lady's hair as a bracelet to show that they are in love. When Belinda got her hair cut off, she felt ugly. Pope says, "If to her share some female errors fall, look on her face and you'll forget ‘em all" (2.17-18). Because of Belinda’s physical appearance, she is seen as more virtous than than the other women. This demonstrates how Beauty was more important to the men than anything else back in the 17th-