Download Roman Love Poetry

Erotic Poetry
► The
Representation of
Women in Roman Love
Poetry ppt.
►
Greene, Ellen. The Erotics of Domination: Male Desire and
the Mistress in Latin Love Poetry. Johns Hopkins
University Press, 1998.
Presenters:
►
Mark Klement
Sociology
St. Joan of Arc
►
Wally Mesquita
Political Sci.
St. Mary’s
►
Danielle Kong
Anthropology
Charles W. Flanagan
►
Ruth Otazu
Sociology
Mother Theresa
►
Sofia Strimban
English
The Abelard School
Key Points:
►
main focus is on the power dynamic that exists between the
female character in the poetry and male narrator
►
many of the romantic poems objectify women and rob them of
power, personality and presence.
►
the woman in the poem serves not only as fuel for the narrator’s
erotic passion but also has the function of being the vehicle for
his poetic discourse.
►
Greene exposes the stereotypical gender-restricted
representation of women, the objectifying male gaze and the
exploitation of the female as a love-inspiring muse.
Catullus
►
The love object of the narrator is deprived of reason and power
and is left mute and defenseless
►
By mastering his desire, the narrator has also mastered the
cause of it, which in this case is Lesbia.
►
Lesbia is not only stripped of her feminine power but also of any
personality, presence or voice.
►
Lesbia is merely an object of desire to be used for his pleasure,
however once she has betrayed him and is therefore no longer
useful, she is demonized and discarded.
Propertius and Ovid
►
The metaphorical content of the poems works to reverse the
apparently empowered position in which the female appears.
►
The depiction of the narrator as love-sick and miserable due to
his entrapment by the passion he feels for his object of desire is
nothing more than a literary flourish meant to establish the
narrator as a successful love poet
►
The woman is helpless and subordinate through the description
of her by the male narrator in his fantasy.
►
A comparison is drawn between the female characters and
mythological heroines famous for their mistreatment and
helplessness.
Concluding Quote
“ [Women are] the projection of male fantasy and desire and
moreover reflect male stereotypes about women which
deny them agency and autonomy.” (Greene 55)