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Essay / Lady Mary Montagu's Travel Writings - 1407
Lady Mary Montagu's letters are a form of travel writing that contributes to the exploration of issues; such as feminism, gender, health, class and culture through an epistolary form. At the time Lady Mary Montagu wrote her letters, travel was a means of commerce and trade. This form of travel writing is opposed to Oscar Wilde's Symphony in Yellow. It is a poem that is simplistic in its structure and appearance, but not in its content or meanings. The title of the poem suggests that it has a substantial connection to music; however, the reader is presented with a poem centered on the narrator's perspective on a place. Similar to the poetic form, Oscar Wilde's The Harlots House explores the idea of prostitution through an in-depth description of what he sees. As a woman, Lady Mary Montagu is presented as someone who breaks free from the boundaries that society imposes on her. This exploration of femininity within society is largely reflected in her letters. Through this form, we see someone who is developing and broadening their views. She stands out as a pretentious personality who, as she experiences various situations, adheres to a change in attitude. Her courage is evident in the way she describes her efforts at sea. According to her early letters, she claims to be "less afraid of the storm at sea than the captain..." Being a woman and an aristocrat gave her a great status and authority, as she seems to assert. Her strong nature leads her to view fear not as something to react to but as a disease that she does not have. There are many examples in his letters where ideas and issues are explored. It may be accurate to say that she begins her letters as a woman with a spirit...... middle of paper...... ic brings life and joy to many here the reader sees with simple words the dead dancing. From the narrator's point of view, the women of the house appear non-human and lifeless. This is a poem of passion and control, suggesting that perhaps people attracted to an environment like this show a lack of it and lose the "inheritance of their soul", which we see in his partner do towards the end. Edouard Roditi sees the poem as a “contemporary scene... the subject has been integrated into the form” of a poem. Focusing on the “subject” mentioned, it can be suggested that Oscar Wilde makes Victorian society his subject. He seems to be interested in prostitution and in some way questions the society that condemns it while participating in it. Harlots House is a prostitute's house and in Victorian times it was considered a place of sin..