Search citation statements
Paper Sections
Citation Types
Year Published
Publication Types
Relationship
Authors
Journals
Definitively reading the Chlora of Marvell’s “Mourning” as Mary Kirke, the married mistress of Francis Villiers, this essay utilizes Marvell’s depiction of Kirke in “A Poem Upon the Death of My Lord Francis Villiers” as an intertext for “Mourning.” Focusing on the turn from mourning to rejoicing in both poems, it shows how Marvell’s critique of Cavalier joy in the Villiers elegy, exposing its violent narcissism and incoherent amorousness, informs a similar critique in “Mourning,” made through the figure of a weeping Chlora-Kirke. As I argue, the poem critiques the Cavalier ethos by having male observers project onto the lachrymose Chlora-Kirke their own notion of lusty joy, which had lost its pretensions to military glory by 1648. Such an argument reveals the misogynistic paradox at the heart of the Cavalier ethos: adulterous relations are valorized, but women’s tears are compulsively scrutinized, so Cavalier mistresses are unable to mourn the death of their lovers even as the culture makes it seem possible. The essay concludes by suggesting that Marvell’s depiction of Chlora-Kirke’s tears in “Mourning” informs the poet’s experiments with the gendered dynamics of weeping in his Commonwealth encomia, including “Upon Appleton House” and “The First Anniversary of the Government Under His Highness the Lord Protector,” as he grows tired of negatively associating women with weeping.
Definitively reading the Chlora of Marvell’s “Mourning” as Mary Kirke, the married mistress of Francis Villiers, this essay utilizes Marvell’s depiction of Kirke in “A Poem Upon the Death of My Lord Francis Villiers” as an intertext for “Mourning.” Focusing on the turn from mourning to rejoicing in both poems, it shows how Marvell’s critique of Cavalier joy in the Villiers elegy, exposing its violent narcissism and incoherent amorousness, informs a similar critique in “Mourning,” made through the figure of a weeping Chlora-Kirke. As I argue, the poem critiques the Cavalier ethos by having male observers project onto the lachrymose Chlora-Kirke their own notion of lusty joy, which had lost its pretensions to military glory by 1648. Such an argument reveals the misogynistic paradox at the heart of the Cavalier ethos: adulterous relations are valorized, but women’s tears are compulsively scrutinized, so Cavalier mistresses are unable to mourn the death of their lovers even as the culture makes it seem possible. The essay concludes by suggesting that Marvell’s depiction of Chlora-Kirke’s tears in “Mourning” informs the poet’s experiments with the gendered dynamics of weeping in his Commonwealth encomia, including “Upon Appleton House” and “The First Anniversary of the Government Under His Highness the Lord Protector,” as he grows tired of negatively associating women with weeping.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.