love and lust

The works “The Gilded Six-Bits,” “I Being Born a Woman and Distressed,” and “To His Coy Mistress” all contain an underlying, common theme. All three works address relationships between men and women. In particular, these three works present the idea of people wanting their relationships to change, even if that includes finding someone else other than their lover. Connected to this idea of wanting more, is the emotion of lust which is also shown in all three works. However, all the speakers/characters in these three works do lust for different things, whether it be money, love, or physical attraction. Moreover, all three works show the idea of women having a substantial role in the (love) relationship.
“The Gilded Six-Bits” written by Zora Neale Hurston is a story of a couple that goes through a relationship hardship – cheating. Here, the wife, Missy May, feels lonely. She feels as though her husband Joe does not love her anymore for he is not really around that much due to his hard work. Because of this, Missy May turns to a very wealthy man that lives in town and has an affair. She longs to feel loved again. She soon finds out that money does not make one feel any more loved. Moreover, Missy May still plays a big role in the relationship with Joe, for he really does aim to please her. The reader can see that she does not necessarily have control in the relationship, but it is guided by her happiness. At the end of the story, Missy May and Joe’s relationship has dwindled long enough, and Joe goes out to buy the candy kisses that he always used to when their marriage was vibrant and healthy. This is the sign at the end of the story that things can be reconciled, and Joe wants Missy May to be his lover again.
“I Being Born a Woman and Distressed” by Edna St. Vincent Millay also presents the occurrence of an affair. This speaker, a woman, talks of her “poor treason.” This can be concluded as her cheating on her lover, or rejecting him. This is an example of real lust and the need to feel these physically attractions or intense emotions. From the poem, the reader can assume that she was in some sort of distress with her lover, and reached out to find someone else that would please her. Moreover, the reader can see that she plays a dominant role in the relationship. Her language throughout the entire poem is totally calm. She uses no anger or harsh words, but calm and steady words. She calmly speaks of when they will meet again, showing no real signs of anguish. She is not worried. This could be due to her simply not caring about her lover, and loving another man.
“To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell is a poem of a man lusting for a younger woman. The whole poem is basically like a big pick up line, trying to convince this woman to have sex with him. The speaker says, “…then worms shall try that long preserved virginity.” This speaker is telling this woman to forget about the past and the future, but to just focus on today, with him. He tells her that if there was enough time in the world, then this act would not be a crime. He wants her to do this no matter what society thinks, but he wants to take advantage of what they have in front of them. He goes through lines and lines to convince this woman, and the reader can tell that this woman does play some sort of role in the relationship– she may be rejecting him. The speaker would not be going through all this trouble of convincing this younger girl if she was not resisting in some capacity.