Eighteenth-Century Audio

Comments (1) to “Behn, “The Dream” read by Elizabeth Scott”

1. queenmab182 wrote:

   I did enjoy the rhythm in which the poem “The Dream” was read by Elizabeth, and her voice was very clear and easy to follow when listening to. However I felt that some more bravado could have been added to the delivery, for the poem when read seems to have more of a playful note about it that her tone leaves out. I do like the poem and the fact that it is a joke in the end on the man in the poem for the entirety of his sexual encounter is really nothing more than a dream he is having. The couplet rhyme scheme in the last stanza of the poem creates that spirited tone that denotes the comicality of how the story ends. Perhaps Behn is trying to say that men have an appetite that should be satisfied with these pleasant fantasies, but are not and so men end up pushing themselves upon maids. The jovial air in the poem could also be saying, however that men are ruled by their desires and are made to look like an idiot when their passions aren’t met, or perhaps just that men think about sex all too much. Any way that this is meant to go, this poem seems more sporting than anything else.

   Posted on 11-Mar-08 at 7:17 pm | Permalink

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