Medieval Parody

"Now dextrously her Plumpers draws,

That serve to fill her hollow Jaws.

Untwists a Wire; and from her Gums

A Set of Teeth completely comes,

Pulls out the Rags contriv'd to prop

Her flabby Dugs and down they drop."

-A Beautiful Young Nymph Going To Bed, by Jonathan Swift

"The essential principle of grotesque realism is degradation, that is, the lowering of all that is high, spiritual, ideal, abstract...not only parody in its narrow sense but all the other forms of grotesque realism degrade, bring down to earth, turn their subject into flesh." -Rabelais and His World, p. 688 from Lit Theory

How can grotesque realism and medieval parody by seen in this poem by Jonathan Swift?

From the literary theory, the author of Rabelais and His World, Mikhail Bakhtin, distinguishes between modern parody and medieval parody. He makes the claim that the foundation of medieval parody is essentially light-hearted and possess a positive character. From the quote above, he defines modern parody as narrow, and having "a solely negative character" (p. 688). Grotesque realism is part of medieval parody, and greatly exaggerates aspects of the human body, which "turns their subject into flesh". While this may seem like a negative way to portray the human body, it is not done with the intention of scorning or shaming people, the point is to degrade things considered high or ideal. In this context, degrade has a more positive connotation, meaning that it is bringing the subject "down to earth".   

With this in mind, when the reader turns to A Beautiful Young Nymph Going To Bed, Jonathan Swift describes in great detail the bedtime ritual of a girl named Corinna. Having read this poem, I am compelled to think Corinna is anything but beautiful, rendering the title ironic and silly. From the excerpt above, one can see that before she sleeps, she is required to remove "plumpers" from her cheeks, detach her teeth from her gums, and pull out the rags from her bra that were supporting her breasts. This is just a snapshot of a lengthy list of things Corinna must do before bedtime. Swift's description is indeed grotesque, yet light-hearted which is conveyed through the poem's pleasant and musical meter and rhyme, staying true to the heart of medieval parody and grotesque realism.