Celia Shits: Swift and Satire

For one to understand "The Lady's Dressing Room," or really any work by Swift, one needs to understand satire. In the case of "The Lady's Dressing Room," Swift is attacking the idealization of women. He does this by, in juvenile and disgusting detail, describing woman (despite the pretenses) as being as human as everyone else. Of course, depending on the reading, Swift might be suggesting that women are as repulsive as everyone else – a possible element of misogyny is detectable in his works to go along with the possible misanthropy.

The first problem in teaching satire, however, might be in teaching students to differentiate the difference between satire and parody. While occasionally the two can intersect, they aren't the same. Something often confused in our society. Parody is of course a direct form of mimicry aimed a specific character/person/story for humorous affect. It may or may not involve a political or social dimension. Satire generally often involves a form of mimicry, that can be but is not necessarily directed at a specific subject, that serves a social-political end. It may or may not involve humor. So I think something that I would first due in getting my students to understand satire is by comparing examples of satire with examples of parody and other forms of humor often used within satire and confused with it.

I think "The Lady's Dressing Room", would be useful in helping to understand the difference between the humor in certain satirical works, and humor as a result of satire. For instance, throughout the poem, the humor we are given is mostly the result of wordplay and juvenile bawdiness. The satirical message is served by humor, and the satire might in turn serve the humor, but for the most part they are separate things. It is only in a few lines that the humor is a direct product of the satire. Such as in the line towards the end: “Oh! Celia, Celia, Celia shits!” Understanding the difference between satire, and the comedic devices that satire occasionally uses, can be helpful in understanding what satire is and the understanding aforementioned poem itself.