Analysis Of Upon Julia's Clothes By Robert Herrick

Late Renaissance love poetry, written in a period of increasing secularisation of it subject matter, often contains sexist depictions of women: Robert Herrick is no exception. In his poetry females are often reduced to their physical attributes, or even, in poems like Upon Julia's Clothes, their attire. As a Cavalier poet, Herrick concentrated on the pleasures of the moment and believed that enjoying life was significantly more important than following strict moral codes. This can be seen throughout his poetry, whether his persona is convincing a woman to sleep with him or merely complimenting her appearance. Herrick's poetry tends to objectify women, suggesting that their beauty is purely physical. In Upon Julia's Clothes, where he 'attributes the qualities of her body to her clothing' (Moira P. Baker), Herrick's libidinal gaze focuses on her 'silks', emphasised through the sibilance of 'sweetly flows', suggesting the sexual quality of …show more content…
The poem focuses on the woman's marital fidelity, emphasising the patriarchal authority of the husband. The churching ritual succeeds in reinforcing the male domination of women, as can be seen in the metaphor 'the breaking of the Bride-cake' which references to the breaking of the hymen, which is again mentioned in the next line: 'where ceremonious Hymen shall for thee provide a second Epithalamie'. By focusing on the hymen, the speaker manages to degrade Julia to her virginity. He also manages to show the power of the male in that he is able to tear and dominate the female's body. Herrick states that Julia will go 'with feare' to bed which further supports the idea of the male patriarch as he visualises her body going through the painfulness of losing her virginity. This poem is different in that Herrick demonstrates the domination and mastery of the male by showing the pain a woman must go through in order to lose her