Desire: An Analysis of Three Plays Essay

Analysis of Desire

Desire is a compelling and multi-faceted emotion, and it serves as the thematic string which runs through and connects three different plays - A Streetcar Named Desire, The Love of the Nightingale, and Hippolytus. However, the fact that they share this theme certainly does not mean that it is interpreted in the same way. The authors, Williams, Wertenbaker, and Euripides, respectively, present different views and aspects of desire, influenced by their own opinions, the time period and society in which it was written, and the particular moral that they wish to convey to their audience. When these different viewpoints are combined, rather than separated, a well-rounded concept of desire can be formed. Also present is the suppression of desire, and it is the struggle between these two forces that runs at the core of the plays.

In Hippolytus, for example, Phaedra embodies the concept of desire, which is balanced both by the moral suppression of her feelings and by the character of Hippolytus, who represents chastity and the dismissal of desire. The struggle between desire and its opposite is so strong in this play that it brings about the demise of both Phaedra and Hippolytus. The internal struggle that Phaedra experiences, in particular, demonstrates the potency of restrained desire. She is ashamed of her desire and knows it is immoral to have such feelings for her stepson, and therefore fights to keep the emotion confined. She is physically weakened by the mental effort invested in controlling her thoughts, and at one point proclaims, All the strength in my limbs is gone. She is also mentally languished, on the brink of insanity, chanting I have swerved from sanity where am I now? I have gone mad The secret desire that her mind conceals slowly leads to her deterioration. This representation of desire seems to suggest that desire is powerful and should be acted upon, or it will become a destructive force, rather than one of passion and love.

Similarly, the downfall of Hippolytus suggests that a total dismissal of desire is also dangerous. At the start of the play, Hippolytus completely rejects Aphrodite, goddess of love and passion, and pays reverence to Artemis, goddess of hunting and chastity. Because of this, Aphrodite constructs the situation with Phaedra, which eventually precipitates the death of Hippolytus. Throughout the play, Hippolytus serves not only as a figure of purity, but also of narrow-mindedness, misogyny, and arrogance. In his confrontation of Phaedra, he professes, no one who sins can be a friend of mineit is clear that a woman is a great evil. He spurns Phaedras feelings of desire, expressing rather contrary beliefs. Both characters, however, die by the end of the play, which suggests that neither of the two extremes is correct.

Theseus, the only adult family member to survive, acts as a balance between these two extremes. He is the bridge that relates Phaedra and Hippolytus in the family structure, and he is also the bridge between desire and its opposite. He does not feel lovesick desire, nor does he reject it or stoop to misogyny, but falls somewhere between the two. Theseus may be considered a model of humanity, for he makes mistakes and later seeks forgiveness, such as when he seeks absolution for the death of Hippolytus, asking will you die and leave me thus, my hands stained with pollution? This is a trait that is unique and characteristic to humankind, therefore Euripides may mean to say that this balanced desire is what should be practiced by the people, and deviation towards the extremes can be dangerous.

Another interesting question raised in Hippolytus is the question of choice or free will. Because it was written in the times of ancient Greece, the text poses the question of whether desires are driven by the gods or our own free will. The transfer of responsibility for ones actions is a recurrent theme in Hippolytus, for Phaedra blames the gods for her sickness, and Theseus for being mislead into asking for the death of his son. When this concept is transferred to the modern context, one may question whether desire is something that can be controlled by the individual or if it is destined and inborn, the answer to which is a matter purely of personal belief.

The Love of the Nightingale, however, does not address the conflict of desire in the same manner. The type of desire it questions is not just conceptual desire, as in Hippolytus, but actual sexual desire. This second work also incorporates the issue of aggression and violence, and the role that it plays in sexual desire. The characters Philomele and Tereus both seem to embrace some form of desire, which is kept in check by navet for Philomele and moral restraint for Tereus. Philomele symbolizes the flirtatious, provocative nature of desire, innocently seducing both Tereus and the Captain. Tereus feels desire for Philomele as well, but his moral side, which tells him that having sex with his sister-in-law is wrong, controls him for a period of time. When curtailed for too long, however, the power of desire and aggression wins and is released in the violent act of rape and the cutting out of Philomeles tongue. Just as in Hippolytus, the suppression of desire has disastrous consequences, but this time they are more graphic and extreme.

Philomele serves as a sort of tragic figure throughout the play, although she may have been slightly to blame for her misfortune. She is the defiled youth who may have flirted, but certainly never wanted anything to become inappropriate or violent. After the rape, she takes the moral standpoint. She does not simply accept the revolting act, as Niobe suggests, making comments like, he might still be interested, that would be excellentyoure nothing now [but] another victim, grovel like the rest of us. Philomele refuses to follow Niobes advice, and because she wants to spread the truth, her tongue is cut out. The silencing of Philomele is also the silencing of morality in this play, unchecked desire reigning supreme. Tereus even recognizes its power over him, telling Philomele, you should have kept quietI was the strongerand my desire.

Throughout the play, extensive animal imagery is used. It can be found in Scene Two, when Philomele likens her passion to a tiger and in Scene Sixteen, when Tereus calls Philomele his sweet, songless bird. The animal imagery is a display of how basic and primitive the drive of desire is. The characters also all turn into birds at the end, forever chasing one another, which is not only animal imagery, but also a statement about the never-ending pursuit and conflict that is desire.

The final play, A Streetcar Named Desire, draws obvious parallels to The Love of the Nightingale. Stanley is very similar to the character Tereus, for he is male who thrives on passion and violence. He is constantly smashing things, from light bulbs, to radios, to dinner plates. His wrath is not always taken out on inanimate objects, however. On several occasions he lashes out at his friends and even at Stella and Blanche. Much like Tereus of Thrace, he comes from a very different culture than the women are used to. Blanche may be likened to the Philomele character, for she is the sister-in-law who comes to visit and is eventually raped by the Tereus figure. Williams, however, brings a level of complexity to Blanche that is not present in Philomele. As an audience, we get to see a psychological side of Blanche, and can examine what motivates her to express interest in younger boys and act the way that she does. Stella may be equivocated to Procne, the soft-spoken woman who marries Tereus.

Blanche and Stanley, much like Philomele and Tereus, are both characters that are driven by desire. They seem to recognize this trait in one another from the start, which is the root of their dislike, yet also part of their attachment to one another. They both, however, regard desire differently. Stanley is driven by brutal, animalistic, sexual desire. This desire is the basis of his relationship with Stella. He bellows out her name, like the call of an animal, and they embrace, both making low, animal moans. They then proceed to produce colored lights. Blanche, on the other hand, feels desire for younger men, for she cannot psychologically escape the mindset of the young girl she was when her husband committed suicide. For Blanche, desire is something she has a hard time controlling, and it is something that has destroyed her life and driven her to New Orleans. She mentions herself that [desire] brought me herewhere Im not wanted, and ashamed to be.

In A Streetcar Named Desire, desire is presented as a primitive drive which binds people together, tears them apart, and is capable of bringing about their downfall. The theme is highly prevalent in the play, and is only counteracted by the characters attempts to rationalize or conceal their desire because of the social implications of revealing their true nature. This play, much like The Love of the Nightingale, presents unfulfilled desire as an extremely potent force.

Although parallels may be drawn between all three plays, interesting differences are still present. One of the obvious differences is the cultural gap. All of the works were written in different time periods, and therefore ask the audience to make different types of moral judgments about desire. Because there is not a narrator, the message is open to the interpretation of the beholder. Euripides brings up questions about who was at fault, or where the blame should lie for the tragic events. In a modern context, we may dismiss the role of the gods and may not interpret suicide in the same way, so we may not experience the same message that was conveyed to the audiences of ancient Greece. Wertenbaker built upon Ovids Metamorphoses, adding complexity and asking the audience to make more of a moral judgment. Williams builds upon the Philomel myth further, bringing in the concept of psychological motivation.

And so, by reading all three of the plays and analyzing the treatment of desire in each, one may emerge with a thorough notion of desire, from different cultural outlooks and varying levels of complexity. Despite the differences that exist among the plays, one similar moral seems to be evident. Desire is a potent emotion, and when left contained and not actualized, has the ability to eat away at an individual and bring about their downfall.