I am looking to support the thesis that passion and intimacy set men's spirits free but endanger the womens. Are they any good examples in Shakespeare's work to help my case?
PS - If you can think of any example from other very well known literature, that would be of great help too.
2006-12-17 09:40:55 · 4 answers · asked by Joe 3 in Education & Reference ➔ Quotations
In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet seems to have to do a lot more sneaking around and lying to her parents than Romeo does. Romeo is all melancholy until he meets Juliet and then he becomes all giddy with love, much more a free spirit. Juliet didn't really seem to have any problems before she met Romeo, aside from not appreciating the pressure to marry what-his-name - the guy her dad liked. Hooking up with Romeo put her in far greater danger than she was in before that point.
2006-12-17 12:57:29 · answer #1 · answered by jar 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
For a start, passion and intimacy could result in pregnancy for a woman which would certainly put her reputation in jeopardy and possibly endanger her life (dying in childbirth or at the hand of an offended family member).
Othello suffocated his wife Desdemona because he thought -- incorrectly -- that she had been unfaithful.
Ophelia DROWNED herself (I have no idea where this "fell out of a tree" idea came from!) because she went crazy after being savagely rejected by Hamlet.
Juliet had to feign death to free herself to be with Romeo. But the whole thing backfired and they both ended up dead. You could argue that in death they both found a certain kind of "freedom" (but, frankly, I'd rather live).
2006-12-18 09:13:33 · answer #2 · answered by pat z 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Unfortunately Shakespeare was something of an egalitarian, in almost every case that I can think of passion and intimacy either endangered both or liberated both. If you are looking for a solid source for your hypothesis, go to Margaret Atwood. (A Handmaidens Tale)
2006-12-17 09:45:06 · answer #3 · answered by Clear thinker 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hamlet
in the end, Hamlet got everything he wanted (he was able to kill Claudius, died w/o having to commit suicide) but Ophelia went completely loony and died from falling out of a tree. Look into it more but I'd say that's a good one.
2006-12-17 09:48:57 · answer #4 · answered by j 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋