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A Masterful Mouse And A Wise Woman: The Female Figure Of Wit In Hannah Cowley’s The Belle’s Stratagem And Anna Laetitia Barbauld’s The Mouse’s Petition To Doctor Priestley Found In The Trap Where He Had Been Confined All Night

“[Wit] refers to something incisive, penetrating or profound that is expressed aptly, forcefully and aptly (and therefore, anyone who speaks in such a way)”(Palmer 136) In the 18th and early 19th centuries, women were not generally accepted as wits. The idea that females could express their wit in writing was not considered polite. Even so, “more and a more poems were written to display […], social grace, and accomplishment” (Backscheider 3) Anna Laetitia Barbauld’s poem “The Mouse’s Petition to Dr. Priestley Found in The Trap Where He Had Been Confined All Night” demonstrates her wit with its use of intellectual discourse, and allegory in which the mice is “particularly adaptable to women’s concerns and their criticism of masculine value” (Kraft 70). She is able to convince Dr. Priestley as well as readers in a variety of ways. Hannah Cowley’s play The Belle’s Stratagem portrays Letitia’s main character as a woman with wit. Letitia’s clever scheme to convince Doricourt of her love is a brilliant representation of female wit. Both Barbauld’s and Cowley’s works are crucial to understanding gender constructions, and the ability of women to express their wit through writing. Both Barbauld & Cowley use irony and sarcasm to appeal to men’s egos. The Mouse’s Petition, like all fables has its own interior meanings [and] the winning style of this story enacts its metaphor (Kostelanetz 197). Barbauld’s mice represents a women who feels trapped by unjust gender constructions. Dr. Priestley is a figure of supreme power. Barbauld uses a dramatic tone in the entire poem to mock men’s belief that they can control women. The mouse appeals to Dr. Priestley’s sense of masculinity by calling his force “strong”. The mouse continues her flattery by calling his “hearth”, ironically, “hospitable”. Barbauld relies on Dr. Priestley’s self-confidence to help her make her argument. Cowley uses a similar approach in The Belle’s Stratagem when “Letitia adopts… an alternative persona, that a charming wit” (Isikoff 102). She flatters Doricourt, saying: “Fashion/and taste/preside at this place; they throw/their spells around/you; ten thousand pleasures/spring up/at their command”(Cowley 4.1.1201-203). Doricourt is eager to take the bait. “And you, most charming of all beings in the universe/ awaken me with admiration.” Did you come from stars? (Cowley 4.1.1205-207). Letitia declares that she’ll “reascend a moment later” (Cowley 4.1.208). Letitia is so flattering that she has Doricourt’s ego hurt when she leaves sarcastically, just as he was about to fall in love with her. Doricourt fights to the end for his damaged ego throughout the play. Cowley’s leading lady damages the male-ego instead of flattering it, as Barbauld’s character does. Both women are aiming to appeal to men’s egos in order to gain their attention. They both hope that their target males will be blinded by the mockery they offer and, as a result, give them what the desire (in this case, freedom or marriage). Letitia Cowley is Barbauld’s Letitia. Both women continue to appeal to the intellect of their male counterparts in an attempt to be smarter than them. The mouse’s literal plea is to Dr. Priestley that he not use Letitia in any scientific experiments. It’s logical that the mouse appeals to the intellect of the doctor, who is, afterall, an established intellectual. Barbauld advocates for compassion in all educated people. She writes that the well-taught, philosophic mind is a source of compassion for everyone. It casts a wide eye on all people and has compassion for them all. (Barbauld, 25-28). In this passage, she appeals both to his ego and his intellect by describing the “philosophic” mind as “well-trained”. Barbauld charms Dr. Priestley with her rationality. Letitia, too, uses her wit and mystery to entice Doricourt and make him want to be with a woman who is intelligent. When Letitia realizes Doricourt does not like her at first sight, she decides to dress up as the qualities Doricourt could desire in women: “English vivacity…wit…elegance” (Cowley 4.1.282-282). Letitia is able to pull off her plan as Doricourt professes that he loves her. You will not be able to mislead me by claiming that I fell in love with you at our first interview. You have my entire Soul. I would not exchange my person, face, mind or body for that of another woman. Barbauld & Letitia try to use the intellect of men in their appeals. Barbauld appeals directly to the intellect of Dr. Priestley, while Cowley uses a more gradual approach in order to gradually gain Doricourt’s respect and admiration. Barbauld’s Letitia and Cowley’s Barbauld’s rat also try to appeal directly to the emotions of their male audience. The clever females try to show Dr. Priestley as a man of feelings by appealing to their refined sensibilities. Barbauld has the mouse pull on the emotions of Dr. Priestley in her first poem: Here forlorn I sit, In the wiry grates; And tremble with the approaching morning, That brings impending fate. (Barbauld 5-8) The mouse describes himself as “forlorn”, trembling from dread. A man of any sensibility would be compassionate to a person in a state so depressing. Barbauld recognized this and personified the mouse in the poem to appeal Dr. Priestley’s sense of compassion. The mouse concludes the poem by begging for help: “May any kind angel clear the way/ And break that hidden snare.” Barbauld’s clever mouse continues to manipulate the doctor. Letitia’s desire to play on Doricourt’s emotion is evident in The Belle’s Stratagem. She forces him to hold off until the last possible moment before she removes her mask. Flutter, in the meantime has told Doricourt “she’s been kept by Lady George Jennet”(Cowley 4.1.366). Doricourt falls into depression after he reveals himself to be a man with feelings. Who would dare to talk about the moon? The patroness of genius–the corrector of wits -the Oh! I feel her. She tugs on my brain. She has It. (Cowley.5.2.66-69) Doricourt, just as Letitia cleverly predicted, is infatuated with her. She appeals in an enchanting way to his feelings, which wins him his heart. Letitia is Cowley’s Letitia who tries to make Doricourt feel guilty by appealing to his emotions. Both writers appeal to the male emotions in a different way. Anna Laetitia Barbauld’s and Hannah Cowley’s The Belle’s Stratagem (The Mouse’s Petition) are both cleverly deceiving the male sensibility, wisdom, and ego. The Mouse’s Petition was read, however it may have been intended, as an appeal for compassion and against cruelty. It also served as a form of political commentary (Kraft 71). The mouse’s letter to Dr. Priestley represents women’s disillusionment with unfair gender structures and the dichotomy between male and female in the 18th-19th century British culture. Letitia’s wit and talent are revealed only when she wears a mask to hide her identity. Letitia’s game with Doricourt represents the struggle of women in this period to become recognized as intellectual and witty individuals, instead of only being appreciated for their looks. Cowley might have written the play to help overcome that challenge. The play shows how women in this period were unappreciated for their intellect and didn’t put forth any reasonable effort. Women of 18th- and 19th-century literature have demonstrated their wit by using clever dialogues, allegorical themes and accentuating intellect. Dictionary of Sensibility describes the right kind of cleverness as a strong emotion that enhances sensibility. True wit is the final and potent expression of sensibility, which Romantics call genius. Barbauld’s and Cowley’s demonstrations of this craft are a testament to their respectable status as women of wit. Backshielder Paula R. Eighteenth Century Women Poets And Their Poetry : Inventing Agency and Genre. Baltimore: John Hopkins UP, 2005. Anna Laetitia Barbauld wrote poetry that focused on nature and life. “The mouse’s petition to doctor Priestley, found in the trap he had been locked up all night.” Eighteenth Centuries Women Poets. Ed. Roger Lonsdale. Oxford University Press first released the book in 1990. 302-303. Rpt. Women in Literature. British Literature of the 18th and 19th Centuries; or, The Unsexed Females. Comp. Anne Milne. In 2010, the University of Guelph Bookstore was established in Guelph. 29. Brady, Corey Virginia Cope Mike Millner Ana Mitric Kent Puckett Danny Siegel. “Wit/Humor/Invention.” Dictionary of Sensibility. Web. 15 Mar. 2010.

. Cowley, Hannah. The Broadview Anthology of Restoration & Early Eighteenth Century Drama. Ed. J. Douglas Canfield. Published by Broadview Press in 2004. 978-1025. Rpt. Women in Literature. British Literature of the 18th and 19th Centuries; or, The Unsex’d Women. Comp. Anne Milne. The University of Guelph Bookstore published a book in 2010 in Guelph, Ontario. 79-126. Isikoff, Erin. “Masquerades and Modesty: Hannah Cowley’s The Belle Stratagem.” Vol. 1. London: Taylor & Francis, 2004. 99-117. Print. Studies in Humor & Gender. Kraft, Elizabeth. Anna Letitia Barbauld. Ed. William McCarthy’s name. Peterborough: Broadview, 2001. Palmer, Jerry. Take Humour Seriously. Routledge published New York in 1994. Pix Mary Melinda C. Finberg Susanna C. Centlivre Elizabeth Griffith Eighteenth Century Women Playwrights. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Author

  • milesmitchell12

    Miles Mitchell is a 40-year-old educational blogger and professor. He has been writing about education and education-related topics since he was a teenager, and has since become one of the leading voices in the education industry. Mitchell is a regular contributor to many education-related websites, including The Huffington Post and The Daily Caller, and has been teaching college students and professionals alike how to write, think, and learn in an education-related setting for over 10 years.

milesmitchell12

Miles Mitchell is a 40-year-old educational blogger and professor. He has been writing about education and education-related topics since he was a teenager, and has since become one of the leading voices in the education industry. Mitchell is a regular contributor to many education-related websites, including The Huffington Post and The Daily Caller, and has been teaching college students and professionals alike how to write, think, and learn in an education-related setting for over 10 years.