Tuesday, June 30, 2020
Contradiction, Comedy, and Sympathy in Marlowes Hero and Leander - Literature Essay Samples
Christopher Marloweââ¬â¢s Hero and Leander challenges 16th century Christian teaching. Christian teaching on desire stems from Thomas Aquinasââ¬â¢ Natural Law which is a set of moral laws intended to identify Godââ¬â¢s purpose for human life. One of the five primary precepts states that the main purpose of sex is to procreate. Therefore, according to Natural Law, Hero and Leanderââ¬â¢s sexual relationship contradicts Godââ¬â¢s intention for humanity. Through exploring the immaturity of the charactersââ¬â¢ relationship, the poem dissuades the reader from condemning the protagonistsââ¬â¢ actions by inviting sympathy for them through comedy. The protagonists are presented as young people with a limited view of desire rather than sinners who deliberately contradict Godââ¬â¢s word. The only expressions of desire that Hero is aware of are extremes, either lust or coyness. This is immediately obvious when she is described as ââ¬ËVenusââ¬â¢ nunââ¬â¢ (45). The contradiction here is clear. As the Goddess of love, Venus embodies desire, fertility and sex whereas the nun embodies purity and chastity. Kocher notes that ââ¬ËVenusââ¬â¢ nunââ¬â¢ was Elizabethan slang for prostitute which further enhances the extremes Hero represents, her existence is a contradiction because she is both nun and prostitute (p295). This is key in evoking sympathy for Hero as it shows that her understanding of desire is limited. She is not a sinner for desiring Leander, as traditional Christian teaching would suggest. Indeed she is confused by Leanderââ¬â¢s interest, usually disapproving of the men who fall at her feet, waiting the judgement ââ¬Ëof her scornful eyesââ¬â¢. When Leander openly asks her to bed, saying ââ¬Ëwe human creatures should enjoy that blissâ â¬â¢ (254) she bursts into tears, ââ¬Ëa stream of liquid pearlââ¬â¢ (297) falls down her face . She is caught between what she knows of chastity as a nun and the physical attraction she naturally feels for Leander. Leanderââ¬â¢s view of love and women is limited. He is aware of his feelings for Hero but sees women as objects; ââ¬Ëstrings to be tunedââ¬â¢ and ââ¬Ëvessels to be kept shinyââ¬â¢. He speaks boldly of sex and virginity, asking Hero ââ¬ËWilt thou live single still? One shalt thou be, Though never-singling Hymen couple theeââ¬â¢ (257-258) but has no idea how to consummate. This lack of information means he cannot realise his sexual desire in a meaningful way either. Douglas Bush criticizes the poem for its general lack of depth and purity in its depiction of love (p130-137). Although this may seem to be the case, this lack of depth is clearly a deliberate act. Hero and Leander have a view of desire that leaves them unable to confront their sexua l urges in a meaningful way and so by extension their sexual relationship will lack depth. The lovers are unable to have a productive sexual relationship because they have such a limited understanding of sexuality. By highlighting this Marlowe encourages sympathy for the lovers rather than condemnation. The comedic nature of the poem encourages us to laugh at the lovers and sympathise with them. Walsh notes that ââ¬Ëalthough aware of the loverââ¬â¢s shortcomings we are both amused and sympatheticââ¬â¢ (p42). An example of this comedy can be seen in Neptuneââ¬â¢s pursuit of Leander. We are told that ââ¬Ëthe lusty God embraced him, called him love and swore he never should return to Joveââ¬â¢ (167-168) and Leander replies ââ¬ËI am no women, Iââ¬â¢ (192). The comedy comes from Neptuneââ¬â¢s mistake over Leanderââ¬â¢s gender and shows the reader that the piece is intended to be humorous. The consummation between the protagonists is also comic. Leander is said to cling to her ââ¬Ëso about that mermaid like onto the floor she slidââ¬â¢ (314-315). The image of a mermaid is incongruous with romance and far from the impressive rhetoric Leander uses to convince Hero to have sex with him. This adds to the humour of the scene and also shows that their act of passion is not full of lust but youthful and fumbling. The comedy humanizes the lovers and evokes the readerââ¬â¢s sympathy for them. As Walsh notes, ââ¬ËMarlowe enjoys their fumbling pursuit of sexââ¬â¢ (p50) and indeed the humour encourages the reader to see their sex as a youthful expression of desire, undeserving of punishment. Marloweââ¬â¢s version of the poem does not end in death, unlike Museausââ¬â¢ original. Omitting the known ending serves a dual purpose. It avoids casting a moral judgement on the behaviour of the protagonists but it also symbolises the lack of information the lovers have on sexual desire from the prevailing Christian narrative and because they are so young. The ending of Museusââ¬â¢ poem would have been known by all so the decision to end with ââ¬Ëdesunt nonnullaââ¬â¢ is poignant as it is not simply changing a narrative, but changing a narrative that would have been ubiquitous. This reflects the challenge the poem poses to the pervasive nature of Christianity and its condemnation of the loverââ¬â¢s desire. The ending of the poem is unlike the digressive story of Mercury (386-484) which operates conventionally according to cause and effect and includes the conventional ending (Haber, P378). This is interesting as it demonstrates that passion should not necessarily re sult in death as Christianity would suggest. Haber points out that ââ¬Ëthe stability of the desired end is further undermined in Leanderââ¬â¢s homoerotic encounter with Neptune (p380). In this encounter we are shown an alternate depiction of desire that is clearly condemned in Christian teaching, Leviticus states that ââ¬Ëman shall not lie with man as he does with womanââ¬â¢ (Leviticus 18.22). Although homosexual desire is not explicitly endorsed in the poem, Neptuneââ¬â¢s attraction to Leander is successful in showing that alternate forms of desire exist which are not socially conventional or encouraged. The subversions of expected endings are crucial in the poemââ¬â¢s attempt to undermine traditional narratives on desire and promote sympathy for the protagonists. It is clear that traditional understanding of desire as either being lustful and sinful, or chaste (unless within marriage), as suggested by Christian teaching, leaves the lovers confused and uneducated in desire. Through the use of comedy, Marlowe evokes sympathy for the lovers and avoids passing moral judgement on their actions by omitting the known ending. While the poem does not explicitly endorse extra-marital relations, it does suggest that the protagonists have a limited understanding of desire and should not be condemned to die for their acts. Bibliography Bush, Douglas. Mythology And The Renaissance Tradition In English Poetry. W.W. Norton, 1963, pp. 130-137. Haber, Judith. ââ¬Å"ââ¬ËTrue-Loves Bloodââ¬â¢: Narrative and Desire in ââ¬ËHero and Leander.ââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬ English Literary Renaissance, vol. 28, no. 3, 1998, pp. 372ââ¬â386. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43447769. Kocher, Paul Harold, and Christopher Marlowe. Christopher Marlow, Individualist. (Reprinted From The University Of Toronto Quarterly.). 1948. Marlowe, Christopher, and Stephen Orgel. The Complete Poems And Translations [Of] Christopher Marlowe. Penguin, 1979, pp. 3-27. The King James Study Bible. Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2008. Walsh, William P. ââ¬Å"Sexual Discovery and Renaissance Morality in Marlowes ââ¬ËHero and Leander.ââ¬â¢Ã¢â¬ Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 12, no. 1, 1972, pp. 33ââ¬â54. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/449972.
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