The Facade of Sexual Liberation
Victoria’s Secret by Charles Martin is written in anapestic pentameter and in a combination of open and closed couplets. In the first 8 lines, Martin introduces us to obscene imagery of the Victorian era, where Victorian women were told to “imagine themselves out buying a new hat” while the men were “getting it off on them”. Then, in lines 9-12, Martin switches up the tone, saying that we may think this way based on history books, but really this wasn’t the case. Sex was indeed frowned upon without courtship, and it was considered a dangerous act because of syphilis and child birth mortality. The images of Queen Victoria in her black dresses following Prince Albert’s death suggest the modesty of the time as well. However, as medium.com puts it, “... Victoria was neither a prude nor as humorless as we’ve been told. She and her husband, Prince Albert, had nine children over the course of their 21-year marriage, and she wrote of her wedding night that “I have never, never, spent such an evening” and “that to press my lips to his is heavenly bliss.”. In the rest of the poem, Lines 13-26, Martin brings the modern day lingerie chain Victoria’s Secret in order to reinforce the point that perhaps this new liberation of cataloged semi-nudity is really an example that not much has changed in the sexual realm since the Victorian era. Women are still seen as merchandise, whether it be Victorian wives or models in Victoria’s secret catalogs, despite our newfound “liberation” of the 21st century. Martin supports this theme and emphasizes it through the use of anapestic base meter, metrical substitution, and 18th/19th century frame theory.
The base meter of this poem is anapestic pentameter. As Adams suggests, “The triple meters are characteristically associated with effects that are light, or quick, though in the Victorian period, their heyday, they easily became languorous.” (p.61). The base meter of the anapest has two different effects in this poem; one being the lightness of almost a satirical piece of work, as we see in such lines where Martin provides us obscene imagery, such as Line 8. The anapestic base meter combined with the content of the poem also gives us a sense of comedic immaturity, as if Martin wants to play on the conspicuous introductory content to drag us in, only to drop an undertone of heavy motifs throughout the poem. Adams mentions the anapestic meter “easily became languorous.”, which, by definition, means,
1. characterized by tiredness or inactivity, especially of a pleasurable kind; or
2. characterized by an oppressive stillness.
With the use of anapestic meter and through the content of his poem, Martin attempts to put the two in resonance; the inactivity of a pleasurable moment (poetry, sex), or the oppressive stillness of the lengthy anapestic meter in resonance with the inactivity of Victorian women during sex, despite it being pleasurable for the man, and the oppressive stillness with the “toff” as the oppressor. Martin perfectly fuses the use of meter and content of the poem to create a solidified theme that he wants us readers to take in with our brains and fuse with the meter of our heart. This theme Martin explores is the lengthy struggle of female pleasure in sex which comes from the unwarranted oppression and materialization of the female body. This is further strengthened in the following example of metrical substitution in Line 8;
/ u u / u u / u u / u u /
Over her, thrashing and thrusting until he was spent.
Although Adams says that “a regular dactylic line can be understood equally well with an anapestic frame”(p.62), let’s explore the idea that this line is in fact dactylic tetrameter. Adams goes on to say, “to be maintained as recognizably “dactylic,” they must be written with little metrical variation and thus quickly tire the ear.” (p.63). With little metrical variation, the tiresome dactylic meter, and the content of line, Martin wants us to remember this line so we can add it to the overall theme of mistaken sexual liberation.
Martin makes use of open and heroic couplets and anapestic pentameter in this poem to create his sense of frame theory. Closed couplets being heavily exercised by Pope in the 18th century to reflect the “lust for regularity”(p.70 Fussel), and the ambiguity of open couplets reflecting the 19th century “commitment to the idea of progression”(p.73 Fussel), Martin’s frame immediately thralls us into a clash of historical dimensions. This tug-o-war acts as the emblem for mainstream thoughts on the sexual lives of Victorian women versus the present representation of models in Victoria’s Secret. Their difference of supposed freedom from sexual oppressiveness, however, is intentionally contradicted, and in order prove this we must look at why anapestic meter was used by Martin. A notable poem in anapestic meter is The Destruction of Sennacherib by Lord Byron. Lord Byron, of course, wrote the comic epic Don Juan, but poetic achievement aside (which could be a paper in itself), Lord Byron, “In his dynamism, sexuality, self-revelation, and demands for freedom for oppressed people everywhere, Byron captivated the Western mind and heart as few writers have…” (poetryfoundation.org). Martin utilizes this Byronic, mega-personic frame to represent the debauch and secret existence of sexual life everywhere. Victorian England was not prude, although it appeared so. The 21st century is not sexually liberated, although it appears so; and don’t mistake lingerie wearing models for lack of prudeness. The only truth is women are still sexually frustrated, oppressed, and materialized, but now with less clothing on.
The closing device used by Martin perfectly encapsulates the poem. The rhyme scheme, originally in couplets, turns into abab in the last 4 lines (23-26) of the poem. Even the meter changes in Lines 24 and 25;
u / u / u \ u / u / u
That never close: and in their depths lie frozen
“Lie frozen”; as such iambic pentameter lies frozen in time as the base form of English poetry, and;
u / u u / u / u u /
The wordless dreams shared by all merchandise,
Anapestic and Iambic meter “shared” the meter of this line.
Martin’s closing device has this intent; to remind us that although the rhyme scheme changes, and although the meter differs in the two middle lines of the final quatrain, it is still one of a whole. Somehow, the difference in meter and rhyme scheme almost slips under our instinctual noses; similar to the way Queen Victoria’s stimulant sexual life was repressed to us by the history books; similar to the way Victoria’s Secret catalogs support the misinformation of sexual liberation in the 21st century. This closing device is all-encompassing because the entire orbital field of Martin’s intent for the outcome of this poem is to shed light on the repressed sexual liberation for women due to the greed and male-induced materialism of the female body.