Your hands were like paws then, your face blue and bleak.
But now I'm bewitched by your delicate cheek' [ln 13, ln 14].
Whilst completely ignoring her explanation which is quite harsh.
-We never do work when we're ruined- said she' [ln 20].
Melia has been ruined' in her own words; however she does not elaborate on this term leaving it up to the reader to speculate on what she means. One interpretation is that in fact she has not been ruined' at all. She feels honoured that her beauty has helped her to achieve more than the riches' that this gentleman' has given her. This poem is chiefly about a young woman who had I think a lust for advancement in the social sphere, and how this is perceived by a friend from her past. I think on some level Melia may have hoped that her friend would be different. She repeats that she has been ruined in several contexts and is almost hopeful about the way she says it, like she may be looking for something more a compliment on this rather than just her material possessions.
The women's rights discussed in this poem are about how women are perceived by each other. Melia's friend has completely ignored her opinion and her feelings and her right to talk. This may be a metaphor for the way that women were treated, which is the way men looked upon all women and almost the way that Melia's friend looks upon her, without regard to her feelings or her opinions. They would merely judge them on their appearance as Melia's friend has done.
And your little gloves fit as on any la-dy!"--.
"We never do work when we're ruined," said she.
-- "You used to call home-life a hag-ridden dream,.
And you'd sigh, and you'd sock; but at present you seem.
To know not of megrims or melancho-ly!" ".
When it came to items and trinkets and such, omen of this age (well higher class women at least) were quite spoilt. One only has to look at the way that Melia's friend admires the material possessions that Melia has, to see how much they mean to her.
One can constantly spot his eyes wandering to a woman's breasts or rear, he spends a whole scene staring at scantily clad women by a pool and talking about their bodies, and he even perverts the baptism of his attractive maid into a romantic sexual fantasy. ... She then runs away and begins to cry claiming almost as if screaming to the film industry itself, "You've ruined me!...