Essay Questions

How does Lord Rochester cope with his lack of performance as described in the poem The Imperfect Enjoyment?

Rochester's reaction to his lack of performance is to blame his partner. After a couple of lines that reflect on his own inability to perform a second time, he begins to review the situation and comes to the conclusion that she rushed him to orgasm on purpose, knowing full well that she was making it impossible for him to continue to enjoy their encounter. However, there is also a large helping of guilt; he feels very guilty that her evening has been cut short as well and feels embarrassed that in some way he sold her a bill of goods that were not as described. The text runs the gamut of emotions; enjoyment, almost a flamboyant pleasure in the wild sexual experience he is having, followed by puzzlement, frustration and blame-throwing when it seems that the encounter is over far sooner than anticipated. Lastly there is guilt, feeling responsible for being physically unable to continue the tryst, and knowing that his partner would have had a more satisfying evening with someone who could have kept up with her.

Lord Rochester had a deeply vindictive side. How is this evidenced by his poetry?

Lord Rochester, in some ways, was the Taylor Swift of his day. If he felt wronged, had an argument, or even better, became involved in a full-blown feud, it would be fodder for his creative writing, and before too long the object of his ire would find themselves immortalized in a rather negative way, the result of Rochester's biting satire. Although many male antagonists were written about in this way, the main subject of his satire and bitterness was a woman; it is with his one-time love, Phyllis, that he feels the most bitterness, and it is Phyllis who seems to bring out the nastier and more vindictive side of him.

The Mock Song tells of his bitterness over Phyllis' affairs with other men. Although he probably exaggerates, we can tell that he has discovered she is cheating on him and he is not going to let this go unremarked. He wants her to know that he is actually a great catch, and he would have been a great sexual partner too, had she waited to find out. He also hints that when she does inevitably come running back to him (and he is big headed enough to believe that this is indeed inevitable) he will be sleeping with someone else.