Poetry Day 3

In Thomas Carew's Ingrateful Beauty Threatened, the speaker feels as though Celia has lost sight of who she truly is. Assuming that she has moved up in the rankings of society though marriage, the speaker (and husband) notices unfortunate side effects from her elevation in class. He believes that she has become pretentious and ungrateful. The speaker wishes to remind Celia who she was before marriage and how she got to where she is now. Carew's opposing diction throughout the first stanza is used to represent the vast differences between Celia's life before and after marriage. In the opening lines of the poem Carew writes, "Know, Celia, since thou art so proud, 'twas I that gave thee thy renown." Although the word "proud" is meant to show that Celia has become stuck up and unappreciative, it is also used to illustrate the atmosphere of the upper class. Paired with "renown," Carew is pointing out that members of the higher ranks of society often feel more important than they should. Because they have money and status, the wealthy have power and influence over society. Celia has fallen into the unfortunate tendencies of the upper class and the speaker uses contrasting language to remind her who she was. Phrases like "forgotten crowd" and "common beauty" are meant to show Celia that she was nothing special before her marriage. The speaker is trying to bring his wife back down to earth by making her realize that she would still be nothing special had he not chosen her to be his wife.