The Objectification of Women: Degrading or Empowering?

Edmund Spenser’s revolting description of Duessa being stripped in The Faerie Queen (Book I, Canto VIII, Stanzas 45-49) emotionally contrasts with John Donne’s glorifying description of his lover’s body in the poem “Elegy XIX: To His Mistress Going to Bed.” Both works use diction to augment an already present “male gaze,” subjectively constructing an objectified female identity. The “male gaze” causes the objectification of women, a form of alienation that degrades them and the power they hold over the “male gaze.” Nevertheless, by evaluating both the authors’ choice of diction and the characters’ choice of actions, the texts reveal that power is not despotic in these relationships; although the “male gaze” objectifies women, both Duessa and Donne’s lover play their own roles in their objectification, ironically resulting in their empowerment. The ornamentation of women is a theme common to both works. Spenser’s Duessa strategically ornaments herself with beautiful objects to hide the falsehood that lies beneath. In contrast, Donne’s lover ornaments herself to hide her femininity, a positive quality. In both cases, women willingly ornament themselves, and through their own objectification, they empower themselves by creating a sense of mystique that feeds men’s curiosity, leading to sexual attraction. It is not until Duessa is “robd of royall robes, and purple pall” (Spenser 407) that her ugliness is revealed; she experiences public shame and “appall[s]” them (line 402), no longer holding the power of attraction. The ornaments she used to control the perception of her physical body have been taken away from her, and with them, her control and power over the “male gaze.” These ornaments, “gems” (line 36, 37) “which women use” (line 35) may be comprehensible to men, but Donne attests that only women know how to “use” them, and compares their “use” to “Atlanta’s balls cast in men’s view” (line 36). This comparison explains Donne’s frustrated tone throughout the work, as he understands that their “use” causes men’s distraction and inability to attain complete power over the female body. Even when Donne compliments the mystical power of women, his simile emphasizes the idea of the “male gaze.” The reversal of roles between Atlanta and Hippomenes characterizes Atlanta, the woman, as the trickster, the sinner that uses “apples” (an allusion to Adam and Eve’s apple) to distract the man. Instead of the men’s “earthly soul [coveting]” (line 35) the woman’s, men are “fools” (line 37) tricked into possessing women’s “gems” (line 37) — “gems” useless to men because only women know how to “use” them (line 35). In the same Greek mythology, once they become a union, they both sin and are punished. Donne’s simile justifies men’s objectification of women because it deduces that it would be better for women to give up their power than to attempt to wittingly “play.” It is with his lover’s nakedness that Donne is able “to teach” (line 47) her. Donne’s superior tone throughout the work affirms this by implying that he feels that he, a man, could make better “use” of the female power over the “male gaze” — a power that, in his hands, would save them both from sin. Donne’s depiction of himself as a “teacher” parallels his reality as a poet, both being artistic occupations. His insistence on possessing complete power and his frustration at his inability to do so both hint at the jealousy he feels toward his lover. He is unable to accept her natural ability to be both the artwork and, through her ability to ornament herself, the artist. This obsession with power, emphasized by the “male gaze,” is apparent in both works through the authors’ objectification of both women. The “male gaze” emphasizes the difference between men and women to the extreme that it not only socially constructs femininity, but also typifies it into a “kind” separate from humanity, “men-nanity.” Spenser confirms this perception in line 423, “would have loathed all womankind,” and line 424, “the same of all her kind.” Moreover, lines 423 and 424 not only reaffirm womankind as separate from the author’s kind, but also continue to form a barrier between Duessa and her “kind,” further alienating her. Similarly, through simile, Donne objectifies women in line 39, “Like pictures, or like books’ gay coverings…” and continues with a metaphor in line 41, “themselves are mystic books.” Once again, the “mystique” the woman holds is not only the source of her power over sexual attraction, but in this case leads to her objectification. In contrast to a book, a woman is able to be consumed and possessed by “reading,” a demystification and stripping of her content, whether the content is beautiful and pure, like Donne’s lover or full of “a secret filth,” such as the grotesque, shameful, and visually harmful Duessa. Donne feels that unlike “th’eyes of busy fools” (line 8) he understands women, “knows” (line 43) his lover, and is able to read — strip — through her various components.Donne is threatened by his possessive attraction to his lover. The fevered use of the words “my,” “mine” and “I” (lines 25-32) is a reaction to the threat he feels on his sovereignty — a response that displays his subjection to his “male gaze” and his eagerness to consume his lover’s power, to experience her “imputed grace” (line 42). The ironic confidence in his tone is especially evident in lines 27-28:

O my America, my new-found-land, / My kingdom, safeliest when with one man manned

These liens imply that, though he is bothered by the threat posed by her power of sexual attraction, he believes in his inevitable success in conquering his lover and her power. Nevertheless, there is urgency in his tone, a result of both his bodily needs — “Until I labor, I in labor lie” (line 2) — and the transient nature of women’s physical beauty and power, a belief resulting from the objectification of women through the “male gaze.” Such objectification transforms women into commodities that can be consumed and are impermanent. Donne emphasizes that the impermanence of his lover’s physical beauty is through objectification, metaphorically portraying her as a “flower,” as seen in lines 13-14:

Your gown going off, such beauteous state reveals, / As when from flowery meads th’hills shadow steals

These lines express that the beauty that she holds, “flowery meads,” has been concealed by her ornamentation. Yet, Donne also points out that this “beauty” that revealed is a “state” and unlike the permanence of the “happy busk” (line 11) “that still can be and still can stand so nigh” (line 12); in contrast, her beauty is short-lived, like that of a flower. Lines 15-16 expand on this point:

Off with that wiry coronet and show / The hairy diadem which on you doth grow

This excerpt reveals that his “male gaze” is tainted by the love he feels; the passage comically depicts his lover naturally growing a “hairy diadem,” logically insisting the removal of the “wiry coronet,” as it seems irrational and inconvenient to wear two crowns. Regardless of the glorification of his lover’s beauty in the above lines, the comparison he is making is still to another form of ornamentation. His lover takes off a crown to reveal a crown. This comparison reveals Donne’s subjection to the “male gaze,” as it depicts women as a composition, an artwork made up of ornamentation, commodities that can be given to another person — specifically, to him. Donne’s “male gaze” has pieced apart his lover into a composition of ornaments, dehumanizing her. Also, this metaphor continues to reduce his lover’s power over the “male gaze” because it is a comparison to a short-lived flower. The already brief existence of flowers is further trivialized through their comparison to the longevity of the metals in the ornamentation Donne’s lover wears, such as the “breastplate” (line 7) and the “wiry coronet” (line 15), once again insisting on the impermanence of her beauty, and the power that comes with it. Coincidentally, though, it does not seem as if is trying to woo her; his celebration, together with his demanding and frustrated tone, expresses urgency in her choosing to expose herself to his “male gaze” — a gaze that will, by degrading her, strip her of her power. Through his demanding suggestions, he is attempting to prepare her for his consumption. Donne wants her to remove everything that is durable, everything that protects her power of sexual attraction from the “male gaze.” Her protection, her ornamentation, has “stopped” (line 8) “th’eyes of busy fools” (line 8).Comparisons to nature also occur in Spenser’s depiction of Duessa. The metaphorical representation of the animals that make up Duessa visually expose the mixed nature of the powers she holds: a “foxes tail” (427), “an Eagles claw” (429), and a “Beares uneven paw” (line 431). Duessa’s “mixture” contrasts with Una, representing purity and truth, and whose name means “one.” Therefore, Duessa’s “mixture” is impure and Duessa represents falsehood. Spenser’s choice of the particular parts of each animal emphasizes the strength of the root of her power over “male gaze.” Yet Duessa is not a mixture of each complete animal, but rather a mixture of a part of each animal. Therefore, she is a composition of threatening characteristics of each animal, in the same way that Donne’s lover is a composition made up of ornaments. The “male gaze” has dehumanized both women through objectification. Additionally, the grotesque stripping of Duessa reflects the skinning of animals after they are hunted and defeated. Duessa is stripped down and her ugliness and impurities are revealed. Duessa’s physical depiction in lines 415-423 reveals that she has already suffered the stripping of the “hate of honorable eld” (line 416) and is “ill favoured, old” (line 413). Skinned and defeated, both physically and emotionally, her rotten self is left to spoil under her and her kind’s shame, without the ornamentation she once wore. Additionally, the “male gaze” creates a perception that excuses both authors from their lack of complete power. By objectifying his lover, Donne uses their separation as man and woman for a specific purpose. As confirmed by his confident tone in line 32, “my seal shall be,” he feels he “shall” ultimately inevitably have full control. However, he expresses the understanding that he cannot do so until she “license[s]” (line 25) him to do so. In line 42, “”Whom their imputed grace will dignify,” Donne reveals that women select those they find worthy of their power. It is their ability to choose that upholds their power, and denies the man in the relationship complete control. For example, Duessa’s stripping, as opposed to having Duessa killed, was suggested and allowed by Una, a woman. To conclude, although the “male gaze” objectifies women and allows men to strip women of their power of sexual attraction — a power over the “male gaze” — both works clearly confirm that stripping, demystification, and robbing of power must be done willingly, as in Donne’s lover’s case, or allowed by another member of the “kind” — Una, in Duessa’s case. Therefore, the stripping of a woman’s power seems to only be possible when it is permitted by the woman herself or by another woman, another of her kind. In this case, the alienation of women from men acts as a pardoning for the men’s inability to hold complete power, as the “male gaze” demands. The separation also aids in the preservation of the power of women over the “male gaze.”