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18th-Century British Literature Videos 3 videos
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And you thought a nymph was a naturally lovely woodland creature. To be fair, so did we. But boy did Jonathan Swift prove us wrong.
A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed: Oh, How Hollywood 2293 Views
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And you thought a nymph was a naturally lovely woodland creature. To be fair, so did we. But boy did Jonathan Swift prove us wrong.
Transcript
- 00:05
A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed, a la Shmoop. Oh, how Hollywood.
- 00:10
Some people just wash their face and brush their teeth before going to bed. Other people
- 00:14
take much, much longer.
- 00:16
The subject of Jonathan Swift’s poem “A Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed” is one
- 00:21
of those people who takes so long to get to bed…
Full Transcript
- 00:24
…we’re surprised the sun isn’t up by the time she’s under the covers.
- 00:28
This poem still holds up today, because it’s about timeless vanity, and the extreme lengths
- 00:33
many people will go to in order to achieve beauty.
- 00:36
Surprisingly, things haven’t changed that much since the 1700s.
- 00:40
As part of her nightly ritual, Swift’s subject removes her artificial hair at the end of
- 00:45
the day…
- 00:46
Today, some people wear hair extensions, everything from glued-in strands of real human hair to
- 00:51
a cheap, sewn-in polyester weave. While the modern gal dons fake eyelashes made
- 00:56
from mink fur…
- 00:57
…the classic nymph peels off eyebrows made from a mouse’s hide.
- 01:01
Not as sophisticated, but as long as she doesn’t dab on a beauty marks made from mouse droppings,
- 01:07
it’s not too bad. Ladies lacking in the bust department used
- 01:11
to use wadded-up rags to prop up… the girls.
- 01:15
Bosom technology is much more advanced today, ranging from push-up bras and chicken cutlets
- 01:20
for adding a little extra, all the way to implants.
- 01:23
Finally, if you have extra in all the wrong places, you used to need a small army of servants
- 01:29
to be roped into a steel-ribbed bodice.
- 01:32
Today, it’s as easy as pouring yourself into skin-tight Spanx, which transport your
- 01:38
fat to another dimension.
- 01:40
It’s likely that the 18th-century babe needed false teeth as an alternative to gumming her
- 01:44
corn on the cob.
- 01:46
Today, dental care is just as much about beauty as it is about health. Instead of false teeth,
- 01:52
we have veneers and UV-whitening.
- 01:54
Still, don’t go trying to open bottles with your chompers.
- 01:58
Whether it’s 18th-century or modern day, it takes a lot of extra work to achieve a
- 02:01
certain look.
- 02:03
What was Swift trying to say about beauty with this poem?
- 02:05
Does it still apply today? Shmoop amongst yourselves.
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