Roles of Women in the Portrayals of Eroticism in Poems - Essay Example

Roles of Women in the Portrayals of Eroticism in Ovid’s and Neruda’s Poems: A Critical Analysis Introduction Neruda’s eroticism essentially evolves best from the patriarchal obsession with the sexuality of female body, whereas Ovid’s eroticism arises both from sexual appeal of female body as well as from a more or less active role of the female in the love-game or love. Yet Ovid is not completely devoid of the patriarchal infatuation with female body. But in Ovid’s portrayal of eroticism, women are assigned more with an active role to love their male counterpart or to betray than Neruda’s women. Love can be both sinister and blissful depending on the stances of their roles. That is, if they play their role in accordance with the male expectations, love is blissful; if not, women love is destructive for men. This line of the playground of love-game essentially infers that women are also endowed with the right to accept or reject the expectations of patriarchy. Even being cosseted and pampered by men Ovid’s women are to be counted as individuals who are the freewill part of human society. Active Role of Ovid’s Lover and Passivity of Neruda’s in Lovemaking Ovid’s eroticism evolves more from the active roles of women; but Neruda portrays it in a comparatively passive role. In Amores II No. 7, Ovid notes that the physical appeal of the maid is not enough for his orgasm, and consequently “no pleasure came / from the part of [his] sluggish loins that should bring joy” (Ovid, “Amores II, No. 7”). The maid does “everything else that lovers” usually do. Yet Ovid’s “numb limbs would not act out” his “desire”. But he remembers that at one night, he performed sexual intercourse with his beloved Corinna for nine times. His erotic response to his beloved is such that Corinna “did not disdain to take/ in hand, fondling it with a gentle motion” (Ovid, “Amores II, No. 7”). The way, the narrator compares his sexual response to Corinna with the maid, reveals that whatever the roles women play in sexual intercourse, their physical charm and appeal are crucial. Whereas the narrator in Ovid’s poem “Amores” and “Art of Love” are fairly evaluative of women’s emotion for him, in the poem, “Body of a Woman” Neruda’s narrator is found to be blissfully obsessed and blindfolded with the beauty and eroticism of the female body. This blindness is ironically blissful for the narrator because it keeps safe from the agony of knowing the disinterestedness of a beloved. But Ovid’s narrator in “Amores II, No. 7,” is completely aware of his beloved’s indifference to him. He says “Im ashamed of my years. Im young and a man: so what? / I was neither young nor a man in my girlfriends eyes” (Ovid, “Amores II, No. 7”). He is ashamed because he acknowledges his beloved feelings. He is not only aware of his infatuation for his beloved, but also evaluative of himself in his beloved’s eye. This self-evaluative view of the male counterpart functions as an incentive for Corinna to be more active to increase her appeal to the narrator by creating temporal distance between them. On the other hand, the narrator in “Body of a Woman” views and manipulates his beloved to achieve his own end, as he says, “To survive myself I forged you like a weapon, / like an arrow in my bow, a stone in my sling” (Neruda, “Body of a Woman”). It necessarily reflects the selfish ignorance of male-chauvinism for a woman right’s to play an active individualistic role in the male dominated society. Again the traditional passivity of women in patriarchy is vivid in the use of the imagery like “white hills”, “world”, “the goblets of the breasts” etc. Indeed in the erotic regions of a female body, the narrator is obviously the “rough peasant” who “digs into [the female body]/ and makes the son leap from the depth of the earth” (Neruda, “Body of a Woman”). Submission, loyalty, compliance and “surrender” are the principles of Neruda’s eroticism. The narrator in “Body of a Woman” is thrilled with the typical feminine passivity and the female body “in surrender”. It essentially ensures the male superiority over the passiveness of femininity. Neruda’s narrator finds those features of a woman erotic what he actually likes to view in a woman. He is elated with the “absence” of his beloved’s “eye”. This ‘absence of eye’ can be perceived as stereotypical notion of a woman’s innocence and indispensable quality of attraction. His infatuation with the sexuality of his beloved is vivid in the way how he describes her. In a woman, he is only aware of her “the pink roses of the pubis”, “body of [his] women”, “body of skin, of moss, of eager and firm milk” and “the goblets of the breast” (Neruda, “Body of a Woman”). On one side of his relationship, there is the sexual, physical appeal of the woman’s body and on the other side, there are his “thirst”, “boundless desire” and after all, his carnal hungers. The narrator in the poem cannot perceive the woman that dwells in behind the physicality. Neruda’s Patriarchal Idealism and Romanticism and Ovid’s Realism of Love Neruda’s eroticism revolves around the patriarchal romanticism of a woman’s body, not around the woman herself. His erotic view of women’s body does not provide them with much space to play the role of a being with socially acknowledged individuality that men are supposed to have. Far from acknowledging a woman’s desire and choice, Neruda’s narrators are so much obsessed and infatuated with the possessiveness of female body that they are not able to think of giving a woman with the scope to play freely in the game of love. This patriarchic infatuation cannot take itself away at a distance to view women as their equal counterpart. Consequently it fails to acknowledge that women have their roles -in this game- that they are supposed on their own wills. Neruda’s narrator describes his beloved from a patriarchic idealist-romantic viewpoint that asserts that a woman is an object that is continually worshiped by men. Therefore Neruda’s eroticism does not require much of a woman’s direct participation. The absence of Neruda’s woman’s direct participation in the erotic relationship between the two presents his beloved as a palatable image of the patriarchal notion of love. It seems that an active role of Neruda’s lover in sexual coupling would violate that divine image. Consequently when the narrator is found to mark “the atlas of your body/ with crosses of fire” (Neruda, “I Have Gone Marking”) and his “mouth went across: a spider trying to hide / In [her]… driven by thirst” () the lover’s response to these caresses are carefully omitted (Neruda, “I Have Gone Marking”). In the opposite manner, considering women as beings possessing individuality and freewill, Ovid’s narrator attempts to outline different aspects of the relationship and interactions between men and women in love. In “Amores I, No. 5,” eroticism has been worked out through metaphorical details of Corinna’s role and response to Ovid or the narrator’s sexual approach. The narrator notes that Corinna’s active protest simply means not to prevent him from the intercourse, as “she fought with no great wish for victory / she lost, betraying herself to the enemy” (Amores I, No. 5). In this bipolar approach to sex, the narrator is more active to show his desire for intercourse. But even having the same desire, his beloved Corinna is preventive. But the way the narrator describes the event shows that his scrutinizing observation is neither infatuated nor obsessed with the sexuality of the female body. Rather he is a careful scrutinizer of the erotic role of a female body and its effect on the relationship between a man and a woman. The elusiveness of Corinna and her passive activity to retain distance between the lovers and also her tantalization makes her erotic appeal more sensible. The way Corinna reacts to the caress of the narrator is typical with most “girls with too much modesty” (Amores I, No. 5). Even Corinna’s willingness is discernible in her costume. A woman during the sexual encounter with a man more likely will do what Corinna does. In order to minimize the obstacles in the narrator’s lusty approach, she wears loose dress, as, the poet says, “[she] comes Corinna in a loose ungirded gown, / her parted hair framing her gleaming throat, / like lovely Semiramis entering her boudoir, /or fabled Lais, loved by many men” (Amores I, No. 5). Conclusion While Ovid vigorously engages the female characters to depict eroticism in his poetry, Neruda carefully omits any active roles of his lover in the erotic theme of his poems. By doing so, Neruda rather keeps the patriarchic notion of a woman’s decency as a lover non-violated. On the other hand, the women’s roles in Ovid’s poems make them more realistic. Works Cited Neruda, Pablo. “Body of A Woman”, Twenty love poems and a song of despair. 20 November, 2010. Available at Neruda, Pablo. “I have Gone Marking”, Twenty love poems and a song of despair. 20 November, 2010. Available at Ovid, “Amores II, No. 7”, The Love Poems. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Ovid, “Amores I, No. 5”, The Love Poems. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Read More