Compare and contrast “Song of songs” and “Lust”.
“Song of Songs”
The “Song of Songs” uses metaphors and imagery to convey the meaning of perfect love between a man and a woman. The opening verse of the fourth song shows the love being so great that the woman dreamt of the man while she slept and her heart laid awake thinking of him and missing his presence. This perfect love sees a more sexual face of love. The sexual entity in both stories is the only concept that is similar when measuring up the two.
The women of Jerusalem are called upon as a third party and are the only source of distraction to the love that is expressed in the poem. There is absolutely no disruption from an external cause in “Lust” with the breaking up of relationships occurring due to the main character being unable to be committed. Allegory, an interaction to explain the unknown by the presentation of the known, is a key feature.
There is a context for reality. The writer calls upon fig trees and alabaster and these examples could be balanced with Sri-Lankan poetry where coconut trees are employed as symbols. The reader has to move into that particular era to understand how it is real because archetypal images are brought into play. On the other hand, “Lust” is a relatively modern work and can be easily comprehended by the readers of these times.
At the same time, there is a nagging feeling that there is something unreal about the love displayed in the “Song of Songs”. There is a show of perfect love in it and it is ironic as ideal love cannot be defined. Faultless love is that of God’s love for man or Christ’s affection for man and it is hard to put into the context of the feeling that exists between man and woman. There is no such thing in “Lust”. The “Song of Songs” has a soft and flowing sensation and it gives the impression that there is no conflict whatsoever.
“Lust”
In the “Song of Songs”, there was a sense of yielding that flowed well without a clash, but “Lust” is a totally dissimilar take. Here is a case about a young woman trying to find emotional love and it explains the range of circumstances she put herself through to achieve it. After many instances with sex, the lass seemed to become disgusted with the whole thing and wish to end her life.
A style of minimalist writing is observed here where the author presents images but does not tell you what to think. This form of writing, started by Ernest Hemingway, is possible when the reader and the writer share a common society. The writer is writing to an American audience and assumes the reader to be aware. However, the “Song of Songs” is rather old and it doesn’t click as well now as it did at that time. The minimalist style can be evidenced in the sentence “You begin to feel diluted, like watered down stew” in “Lust”.
When comparing the two sections of writing, one can see the minimalist style being matched against text that utilizes extended metaphors. That is, in the minimalist style we do get it when sharing a familiar background, but with extensive metaphors there needs to be long accounts pass on meaning to the reader. “Lust” is a story where the reader is left to deduce the gist of the script without any help from the story teller. The “Song of Songs” differs in that it provides nothing for the reader to infer.
The woman in “Lust” gets no intimacy from her various flings. This is hinted when she asks one of the men she is with who he is and he is taken aback. She is unable to come to terms with what he is thinking and this bothers her. This is a case of the self and the other. She could not fathom her unique identity and link herself completely with a man. In the “Song of Songs”, the idea of love where a man and a woman tend to find each other and understand is shown well and differs from “Lust” in that regard as well.
The girl is unable to value the fullness of love and marriage. This is pointed out when she talks to Mrs.Gunther. She receives an answer by way of a double-edged joke that babies form a common entity linking a male to a female. In other words, Mrs.Gunther’s long and full relationship with her husband is in opposition to the female lead in “Lust” who rejects love. As a result, she gets sadder and sadder. The futility of short term sexual affairs in “Lust” is very much in contrast to the perfect and accepted love pictured in the “Song of Songs”.
“Song of Songs”
The “Song of Songs” uses metaphors and imagery to convey the meaning of perfect love between a man and a woman. The opening verse of the fourth song shows the love being so great that the woman dreamt of the man while she slept and her heart laid awake thinking of him and missing his presence. This perfect love sees a more sexual face of love. The sexual entity in both stories is the only concept that is similar when measuring up the two.
The women of Jerusalem are called upon as a third party and are the only source of distraction to the love that is expressed in the poem. There is absolutely no disruption from an external cause in “Lust” with the breaking up of relationships occurring due to the main character being unable to be committed. Allegory, an interaction to explain the unknown by the presentation of the known, is a key feature.
There is a context for reality. The writer calls upon fig trees and alabaster and these examples could be balanced with Sri-Lankan poetry where coconut trees are employed as symbols. The reader has to move into that particular era to understand how it is real because archetypal images are brought into play. On the other hand, “Lust” is a relatively modern work and can be easily comprehended by the readers of these times.
At the same time, there is a nagging feeling that there is something unreal about the love displayed in the “Song of Songs”. There is a show of perfect love in it and it is ironic as ideal love cannot be defined. Faultless love is that of God’s love for man or Christ’s affection for man and it is hard to put into the context of the feeling that exists between man and woman. There is no such thing in “Lust”. The “Song of Songs” has a soft and flowing sensation and it gives the impression that there is no conflict whatsoever.
“Lust”
In the “Song of Songs”, there was a sense of yielding that flowed well without a clash, but “Lust” is a totally dissimilar take. Here is a case about a young woman trying to find emotional love and it explains the range of circumstances she put herself through to achieve it. After many instances with sex, the lass seemed to become disgusted with the whole thing and wish to end her life.
A style of minimalist writing is observed here where the author presents images but does not tell you what to think. This form of writing, started by Ernest Hemingway, is possible when the reader and the writer share a common society. The writer is writing to an American audience and assumes the reader to be aware. However, the “Song of Songs” is rather old and it doesn’t click as well now as it did at that time. The minimalist style can be evidenced in the sentence “You begin to feel diluted, like watered down stew” in “Lust”.
When comparing the two sections of writing, one can see the minimalist style being matched against text that utilizes extended metaphors. That is, in the minimalist style we do get it when sharing a familiar background, but with extensive metaphors there needs to be long accounts pass on meaning to the reader. “Lust” is a story where the reader is left to deduce the gist of the script without any help from the story teller. The “Song of Songs” differs in that it provides nothing for the reader to infer.
The woman in “Lust” gets no intimacy from her various flings. This is hinted when she asks one of the men she is with who he is and he is taken aback. She is unable to come to terms with what he is thinking and this bothers her. This is a case of the self and the other. She could not fathom her unique identity and link herself completely with a man. In the “Song of Songs”, the idea of love where a man and a woman tend to find each other and understand is shown well and differs from “Lust” in that regard as well.
The girl is unable to value the fullness of love and marriage. This is pointed out when she talks to Mrs.Gunther. She receives an answer by way of a double-edged joke that babies form a common entity linking a male to a female. In other words, Mrs.Gunther’s long and full relationship with her husband is in opposition to the female lead in “Lust” who rejects love. As a result, she gets sadder and sadder. The futility of short term sexual affairs in “Lust” is very much in contrast to the perfect and accepted love pictured in the “Song of Songs”.
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