The Anatomy of Melancholy

Adornment carries us away; jewels and gold cover Everything; the girl herself is the least part of herself.

With gold and jewels all is covered, And an exotic headdress wins us over; (While she is the least part of herself) Such baubles utterly undo us.

Why do they stay indoors for so long at a time, sometimes a whole winter, allowing themselves to be seen only by torchlight or candlelight, then venture out after every possible preparation, when they have no business except to show themselves?

They come to see, they come to be seen.

For what is beauty if it is not seen? What use is being seen, if not admired? And even admired, unless desired in love?

Why do they walk with that affected gait for which Philo the Jew reproaches them, and practise—I say it again—such gestures, such apish, ridiculous, indecent dress and Sybaritic tricks, “paint for the cheeks, rouge for the veins, white lead for the brow, rules for the eyes,” and so on? Why wear those sweet perfumes, powders and ointments in public, and flock so frequently to sermons? Is it for devotion? Or rather, as Basil tells them, to meet their sweethearts and see the fashions? For, as he says, they commonly come with such elaborate airs, gestures and attire as though bound for a dancing school, a play or a brothel—places more suited to them than a church.

When such a she-priest comes to say her Mass, Twenty to one, they all forget their prayers.

“They turn those holy temples, consecrated to godly martyrs and religious uses, into shops of shamelessness, dens of whores and thieves, little better than brothels.” When we see such things done daily—their husbands bankrupt, if not cuckolded, their wives loose, their daughters unchaste—and hear of the dissolute acts we hear of every day, how should we think otherwise? What is their purpose but to deceive and entice young men? As tow catches fire, such alluring sights produce their effect; how can it be otherwise?

When Venus stood before Anchises in her costly robes, as Homer relates in one of his Hymns, he was captivated at once:

When Jove’s daughter stood before him, Anchises, Seeing her, marvelled at her beauty and wondrous clothes; For she wore a robe more brilliant than rays of fire. She also wore gleaming chains and winding coils; Beautiful necklaces encircled her tender neck, Golden and richly varied.——

When Venus first stood before Anchises, He marvelled to see her in her finery; For she wore a hood as red as fire, Glittering chains and coils like twisted ivy; About her tender neck were costly brooches, And golden necklaces, enamelled settings.

So too when Medea first appeared before Jason, attended by her nymphs and ladies, as Apollonius describes her: