The Power of Beauty in Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s “Saturday—The Small-Pox” Dessi M. Gravely College

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu’s poetry reflects her keen awareness of the gender politics that pervaded her lifetime. Exploring themes of power, sexuality, and beauty in her writing, she stands out because of her criticism of the patriarchal standards that were predominant during the eighteenth century. Her poem “Saturday—The Small-Pox” reflects on feminine beauty and the power that women hold and express in their physical appearances. Though the poem could be viewed as a satirical portrayal of feminine vanity or a criticism of feminine narcissism, it may also be read as an exploration of beauty as a way of expressing power. In the poem, Flavia, a woman who has been scarred with smallpox, relays the loss of power that she experiences as a result of her diminished beauty. Montagu asserts the value of beauty as a form of power in a patriarchally structured society in her poem “Saturday—The Small-Pox.”

The poem focuses on the thoughts of Flavia, who is looking at herself in the mirror and lamenting the loss of her beauty. She is struggling to accept her changed appearance after having the smallpox and is concerned with how this loss of beauty will impact her life. She conveys a great sense of loss in her outcries:

How am I changed!...