1.Write summary of "dissection of Beau's head" by Addison .
2. Write summary of "dissection of Coquette's heart by Addison.
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Woods|
1
Joshua WoodsHonors Eng. 1103-22-12The Coquette: A Shallow Flirt
In Joseph Addison’s
The Spectator No. 281: Dissection of a Coquette’s Heart,
he is the narrator as he takesthe reader along with him through the dissection of a coquette in a dream of his. Addison describes the heart ascomprised of three layers: the
“Pericardium”,
the
“Mucro”,
and the inner chambers of the heart. Addison describes
the “
Pericardium”
as impenetrable with “Millions of little Scars...occasioned by the Points of innumerable Dartsand Arrows...”(¶4) With this, it is seen that the coquette is shallow as she has had many courters yet she does nottake one and commit. “Upo
n examining this Liqour,...which is made use of in the Thermometer
,” (¶5) describeshow the liquid of her heart fluctuates in temperature to that which gets it “heated.” In order to warm the coquette’s“Liquor,” a man of style of fashion or
foppery would have to be present, whereas a man of science made hertemperature drop. The use of verisimilitude in the article gives the reader a sense of realism while the whole time,the satire is prevalent in the outlandish analogies made to other objects. Having a he
art “wound up in a GordianKnot”( ¶8) gives the reader a sense of realism in the fact that many coquettes may be hard to woo over entirely, yetthe realistic certainty of a heart’s capillaries, veins, and arteries being wound up in an intricate knot natura
lly is justsurreal. The satiric technique is also used to
describe the heart as comprised of “Multitudes of Cells andCavities”(¶11) each corresponding to the “Addresses of several who made Love to her.”( ¶12) This description
displays the flagrant fact that she has been regarded as a thing of compassion to more than a handful of courters. Yetupon inspection of the central-most chamber and
“applying [his] Glasses to it,”
( ¶12) Addison found that therecently deceased Beau was within it. Is this coincidence or merely Addison conveying to the public that suchpeople are made for each other? Or is it the fact that the beau is the ideal lover and no coquette would be in theirright mind to commit to anyone less? With his literary work, Addison has surely made this vixen