“To the fair Clarinda, who made Love to me, imagin'd more than Woman” Aphra Behn Aphra Behn’s ‘To the fair Clarinda’ is a love poem with surprisingly modern insight. In this candidly erotic piece, the supposedly female speaker addresses her lover Clarinda, who may be biologically female yet plays both masculine and feminine roles in the poem. Though the speaker insinuates that in any sexual relationship there are definite masculine and feminine roles to fulfill, she overturns the notion that these are necessarily related to anatomy. “ To the fair Clarinda” seems to be a poem that celebrates the exotic delights of being with a hermaphrodite. However, Clarinda’s anatomy is very ambiguous within the poem.
However, Shakespeare presents Benedick’s change in a more positive and light-hearted manner, whilst Macbeth’s change revolves around negativity and wrong-doing as the approach to each individual genre is different, where comedies are humorous and happy, whilst tragedies are gloomy and grief-stricken. INTRO: The opening scene of the play, ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, is significant as Shakespeare introduces the genre of the play as a romantic comedy through the comic names given to Benedick and Beatrice by each other. Beatrice nicknames Benedick as “Signor Mountanto”, which uses sexual innuendo expressing their love hate relationship, created by the definition of the word ‘montanto’ (technical term for an upward thrust in fencing). This insulting, but hilarious comment would have only been understood by the Shakespearean audience. Opposing this, Benedick personifies disdain in the form of Beatrice, by calling her “Lady Disdain”, suggesting that she is in fact, the epitome of disdain or contempt.
However, the idea of women being unequal to men is quickly dispelled by Webster who appears to mock the misogynistic characters of the play and indeed, very possibly the misogyny of society as a whole at the time. This is most apparent through his evolution of Vittoria as a character and also a symbol of the downfall of sexism. This is most striking when considering Flamineo’s comment that “[perfumes, when chafed] expresseth virtue, fully, whether true, or else adulterate.” Portraying a key theme throughout the play of a true nature disguised beneath a thin veneer of sweet nothings. This facade of Vittoria’s is first revealed to the audience through her manipulation of Bracciano in her dream sequence. Whereby her constant play on the word “yew/you” (“both were
She then compares herself to those who live by society the "right" way, those are perfect people and she is not perfect so she does as she pleases (Lines 105-120). The highlight of that section explain this is where she states "Virinitee is a greet perfection". The Wife of Bath is not perfect but nobody is, her ways of living and doing things come from her sexual desire because in stories it's even said that she would go on these trips and "wonder". Harwood points out that before the Pardoner interrupts there are three points which are consistent, first one being the “wo in marriage” , the second one she insists she may be lawfully marry for sexual fruition and the third “tribulation” debt, and
The play “Romeo and Juliet,” by William Shakespeare, has many different ideas. The main idea, however, is love. A question that keeps coming to mind is how much physical attraction influences love at first sight. This is demonstrated in the play by Romeo’s immediate love for Juliet, how he has “ne’er saw true beauty till this night” (act i sc. v line 60).
The play Cyrano De Bergerac by Edmond Rostand and the modern day film Roxanne directed by Fred Schepisi tell the same love story, through different elements, styles, and points of view. Although the play is a tragedy and the film is a romantic comedy, people from all generations can relate to Rostand’s story one way or another. In this story, Cyrano is in love with Roxane, but unfortunately he has a large nose which makes Roxane uninterested. Roxane’s love interest, Christian, is good friends with Cyrano. All Cyrano really wants is for Roxane to be happy, so he helps Roxane and Christian progress their relationship despite his feelings for Roxane.
Throughout the course of the play, the playwright seems to define sexuality in terms of winners and losers; Stanley a ‘winner’, is a powerful man who is assertive in his sexuality, and who eventually triumphs over Blanche both morally and sexually, whereas Allan, Blanche’s late husband is a ‘loser’. He was a homosexual or at the very least a bisexual, and upon Blanche having made a derisory remark about his sexuality after having caught him with another man, he shoots himself. Perhaps the most important element of human sexuality that is explored in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’ is the harmful effect it can have on one’s social standing and consecutively, one’s psyche. Blanche is the vessel through which the audience truly comes to understand the baneful features of human sexuality and how an over identification with the importance of one’s sexuality leads to strife and death. As mentioned earlier, Williams sorts raw human sexuality into two categories, the winners and the losers.
Couples who are ready to identify their outrageous behavior and focus on severe origin foundation, trauma effects or abandonment, and introduce a proposition to cultivate will become successful in the process. The purpose of the institution is to establish a ground for hope, and to endow a sense of rebirth in an unhealthy relationship. The association apprehends the right to confidentiality, ethical statues, and the program instills the integrity of others. Time reveals cultural crisis within the realm of sexuality. From the track record of Sexual Recovery Institute, men and women struggle with their sexual issues.
In Othello, Shakespeare weaves an intricate story about three couples and how misunderstandings concerning sex deeply impact them all. The characters he creates embody different roles in the society of this time period, from the ideal woman to the abusive husband. Through the transformations and outcomes of these characters, Shakespeare successfully endorses feminist ideas, a rarity at his time; he rejects male sexual dominance and pushes for equal sexual responsibilities. Shakespeare uses Othello to criticize the double standard regarding male and female sexuality in his society through the portrayal of three relationships. Othello and Desdemona start off the story as an unconventional pair.
(through propaganda and the lived culture of everyday; public culture of entertainment fits model of propaganda for heterosexual living; the archetype of popular romance) - is heterosexuality changing? Or are cultures of gender and ‘doing’ gender changing? (A. Giddens: narratives of male displacement