Analysis of Lucy Aikin's Epistles on Women
Analysis of the Epigraph Oh! What should beauty learn from crabbed books? Sweetly to speak and sweetly smile be thine; Beware, nor change that dimple to a line! The poet implores women to stop being subordinate to men because they are inherently, physically, and mentally gifted. It is a sad occurrence that societies have traditionally expected women to seek advice from men. Patriarchal societies attempt to pigeonhole women and exalt women when the opposite is the case. Aikin implores women to appreciate their beauty, remain positive, and counter society’s construction of women as slaves and playthings. The poet denounces men as “crabbed books.” The implication is that beautiful creatures like women should not take advice from men. On the contrary, she encourages women to maintain their sweet speech and keep on smiling. The implication is that men and women should never be placed on an equal pedestal because the latter are inherently beautiful.…show more content… The epigraph aims to dispute this by claiming that men have no authority over women just because they are muscular. Indeed, the reference to crabbed books presents men as grumpy and bad-tempered. For this reason, women, with their sweet speech and smile should not take advice from irritable men. The insinuation is that women should stay happy and not accept to be irritated by men. Additionally, the poet advices women to be contented with their physical features and desist from allowing men to turn their contentment into