Not My Best Side - UA Fanthorpe

What are the main themes?

Challenging Stereotypes, Vanity, Lust, Arrogance, Objectification

What is this poem based on?

'St George and the Dragon' - Uccello (1470)

What is the source of the stereotype?

The Myth

What does Fanthorpe undermine stereotypes through?

Dramatic personae

How is the dragon presented?

Vain

Juxtaposition of expectations

Likeable, sophisticated, civilized

Dragons are normally presented as monsters in popular culture, what does this say about society?

Can blindly use stereotypes without thinking about individuality

"Not my best side i'm afraid"

As if he's a supermodel

Conscious about appearance

"Poor chap, he had this....

Obsession with triangles, so he left off my two feet."

Mocking art world

Condescending

Likeable in its humor

"(What after all are two feet to a monster?)"

(mocking something the artist missed off)

Portrays him as a victim of the artist, like he's victim of dragon slayer

Mocks own divergence from dragon stereotype

"I was sorry for the bad publicity."

Creating bathos

enjambment from previous line set up this humorous conclusion

More concerned with public image

"ostentatiously beardless... unattractive as to be inedible,"

Mocking stereotypes

George unmanly

Damsel being ugly

"I don't mind dying, ritually....

as I always rise again"

Talks about death light heartedly, preventing poem from losing comedic elements

Rise again in another story

Death of dragons is ritualised

"I should have liked...

a little more blood."

doesn't feel he's been made star of the show

How is the damsel presented?

Modernised, removing victimhood, not intelligent nor lady like, humorous in lack of propriety, crass, shallow, sarcastic

What stereotype does the Damsel clash with?

The idea of modest, virginial princess, creating bathos through subversion as she's not what we expect

How is the Damsel's stanza ironic?

She wants dragon

Innuendo surrounding dragon

Dragon doesn't want her back

"It's hard for a girl...

to be sure if she wants to be rescued."

Modern syntax and lexis

Immediately challenges stereotype

"Lovely green skin...

sexy tail."

Subverts from reality

She's turned from prey to predator

woman is totally transformed as she sexualises

"the way he looked at me"

lustful, points out ridiculousness of situation

"On a really dangerous horse"

Sarcasm

"acne, blackheads or...

even bad breath"

Not as attractive as dragon

Rescuer is a geek

She contrasts boy with dragon

How is St George presented?

burlesque seriousness

leaves hero of the story till last

pompous

typical patriarchal arrogance

modernism undermines heroism

How is the patriarchy reflected in George's stanza?

Sense of male superiority

The man is happy with his role, nobody else is

Society favours men so he has most power

Dragon + Damsel objectified

His mere role makes him powerful even if he's not powerful himself

If he loses his masculinity and position he has nothing

"you could see all his equipment at a glance."

sexualised humor to make dragon seem more attractive than george

therefore undermining the connection and relationship between 3 characters

"And a girl's got to think of her future"

Links to feminist perspective

Do we want the princess to be entirely pure or a modern day woman?

"I have diplomas in....

Dragon Management and Virgin Reclamation"

boastful

sounds more technical than heroic

Singular pronoun, he has little care for anyone but himself

"horse is the latest model..

spear is custom built"

Sound like gadgets

Shows he is entirely unfeeling

"So why be difficult?...

Don't you wanted to be killed and/or rescued"

More explicit stereotyping and social ideas

and/or sounds ambivalent, doesn't matter who's killed or rescued as long as patriarchy continues

"Don't you want to carry out...

the roles that sociology and myth have designed for you?"

undermining the roles of male rescuer, female victim and monstrous demonised dragon

"You are endagering...

job prospects"

Linked to modern concerns

mocks fantastical image of painting

"You're in my way"

Typical arrogance

perpetuates male construct

Men are also confined to stereotype and have to fulfil the ultimate masculinity