The Whore by Whore of Quality
The poem opens by declaring that an age so rich in vice among both high and low society gives the satirizing Muse ample material, and announces that "Whore" is the theme, calling on "sisters" to support the author against critics. The speaker then questions why "whore" is treated as the worst of female crimes, invoking the story of Eve and the serpent to ask whether the "evil" lay in the serpent's head or tail. The speaker defines a whore as a woman without shame who sells herself to any passer-by, then asks women of "high life" whether necessity is really their excuse, suggesting they stray from boredom or from husbands who are impotent, unfaithful, or neglectful. A woman named Newton is cited as helping herself when her husband could not satisfy her. Grosvenor is addressed directly: she explains in her own words that her lord was unfaithful, so she took a prince as a lover, becoming a "royal concubine" envied by other ladies, only to be abandoned and left with nothing but the name of whore. Ligonier is described as finding her mate insufficient and taking command of "a regiment" of lovers instead. Worsley is said to have tried many men while her complying cuckold husband looked on, with the speaker condemning any husband who connives at or profits from his wife's infidelity. The speaker anticipates the objection that such women were raised with virtue and good instruction, and counters with a tale of a tender virgin placed in a convent against her wishes. The young nun confesses to the Abbess that she longs for a man despite her devotions; the horrified Abbess urges her to imitate the seemingly devout Sister Prue, but the virgin reveals that Prue herself was long ago seduced, lived through a string of lovers, and only became a nun after tiring of pleasure—intending to follow Prue's example herself, enjoying love first and prayer later. The speaker concludes this nun was a harlot in mind already, and extends the point to boarding schools, where dancing masters and hairdressers lead to pregnancies and elopements despite supposed moral instruction. The speaker then asks why whores are so universally despised when they are used by everyone, attacking the hypocrisy of a preaching priest who privately drinks and fondles a "willing fair" before returning to condemn whores from the pulpit; a magistrate who enforces harsh laws against poor prostitutes while sparing wealthy "flashy" ones for a bribe, and who indulges his own desires at night; and the Doctors' Commons and Arches courts, where judges and proctors profit from selling marriage licenses and granting divorces for adultery, without ever being called whores themselves. The speaker likewise names members of Lords and Commons, including figures referred to as "F--x" and "S--dw--h," as guilty of keeping whores, arguing that if men bore the same stigma as women, their reputations would suffer equally, and insists that without men there would be no whores, since men set nets to ensnare women's beauty and innocence, then abandon them once ruined. The poem then turns autobiographical: the speaker, a market family's only child raised in a pleasant rural setting near a town, describes her simple, happy upbringing and growing beauty, which attracted a man called Lothario. He courted her with vows, oaths, and promises of marriage, swore her to secrecy from her parents because of his powerful family, and seduced her under promise of wedlock. His passion cooled after the seduction; she became pregnant, her parents cast her out upon learning the cause, and she was left to wander as a "neglected whore." She blames Lothario, who married a woman of higher rank instead, and wishes that his wife share her own fate of betrayal. The speaker argues that men are the root cause of such ruin, teaching women vice, exploiting their fondness for dress or amusement, then abandoning them without pity to disease, poverty, and prostitution for survival, ending in death on a laystall unpitied by all—while declaring that every person of feeling must acknowledge it is "vile man" who first makes such a woman a whore.
By Whore of Quality · Genre: Satire, Social Commentary, Feminist Literature · 4,494 words
First lines
THANKS to the age, the satyrizing Muse / Has themes sufficient-where she will to chuse; / Whither among the vulgar scenes of strife, / Or those renown'd for = Vice = in higher life. / Lord, Duke, or Duchess, might the theme enhance, / And shew the worst of crimes-without romance. / _St. James_'s, or _St. Giles_'s, will supply / Enough of subjects-in Iniquity. / = WHORE = is my theme, ye sisters all attend, / Give your applause, and be a sister's friend; / If this ye do, and cast a fav'ring eye, / Those = Sons = of = Whores = , the Critics, I defy.
Similar titles
- The Anarchist by G. K. Chesterton
- Rich And Poor by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
- Some Lessons From The School Of Morals by William Dean Howells
- The Eternal Feminine by Agnes Repplier
Genres
- Satire — The work employs irony and exaggeration throughout to critique social hypocrisy, particularly the double standard whereby women are condemned for sexual transgressions while men and institutions engage in identical behavior without consequence or judgment.
- Social Commentary — The poem is fundamentally a critique of societal structures, examining how women across all classes—from nobility to servants—are labeled 'whores' while the men who seduce and abandon them, including clergy, judges, and politicians, escape censure.
- Feminist Literature — Despite its 18th-century composition, the work explicitly argues for female agency and critiques patriarchal systems that systematically blame women for sexual behavior they are manipulated or coerced into, while absolving men of responsibility.
- Verse Poetry — Written in rhyming couplets typical of 18th-century satirical verse, the work employs poetic form and rhetorical devices including rhythm, rhyme, and metaphor to deliver its arguments.
Tags
satire · prostitution · gender inequality · sexual exploitation · seduction narratives · abandonment · social injustice · institutional hypocrisy · religious corruption · legal injustice · double standards · male predation
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The Whore is listed on Textopian as a short story by Whore of Quality, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: Whore of Quality
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Satire, Social Commentary, Feminist Literature, Verse Poetry, Moral Philosophy
- Length: 4,494 words
- Structure: 1 section, 40 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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