Love, Sex & Relationships...

All three of the readings: Marvel’s “To his Coy Mistess,” Millay’s “I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed.” and Hurston’s “The Guilded Six-Bits” are related by the themes of love, relationships and how sex affects them. However, they apply in very different aspects.

Andrew Marvel’s poem “To his Coy Mistress” is basically about a man pressuring his mistress to lose her virginity to him. His main point is to “seize the day” because they do not have time to waste. The speaker basically says that if time was of the essence, he would give his lady endless time and courting as she deserved, but since this is not the case, there is no sense in wasting any more time. If they do not make love, their time would have been wasted. So, though they cannot escape the entrapment and limits of time, at least by making love, they will have made the best of the time they had. The tone of the poem is surprising light, especially with the subject of a girl losing her virginity being such a serious one (at the time). Another noticeable part of the poem is how the woman has no actual voice in the poem, which was symbolic of women’s postions at the time. Her opinion however is made known – in her wish to preserve her virginity. The speaker ends by telling his mistress to have sex with him before it is too late.

Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem “I, Being Born a Woman and Distressed” is also about relationships and sex, yet this poem, unlike Marvel’s, is from the perspective of a woman. It is about how women (of the time) were traditionally expected to do as their men wanted, yet she is more of a dominant character than most women of her time. It seems that the main character has had a sexual experience with a man that she lusts. In the poem, she wonders what will happen when they next meet. The poem starts out with an octet (8 lines) – which presents the speakers situation, and it concludes with a sestet (6) lines, where she resolves to end her affair. Also, the physicality of her body, and sexual encounters is emphasized in this poem. It seems that she does not simply want his body (i.e. a sexual relationship) but she yearns for more of an emotional relationship with him as well. In the end, she foreshadows a potential rendezvous, which she ironically does not want to occur.

Finally Zora Neale Hurston’s story: “The Gilded Six-Bits” is about a poor couple living in a solely African American community. Although they face difficulties because of their economic situation, they do have a rare true love, and a deep relationship. This is put on pause when Missie May (the wife, and female protagonist) – has an affair with a new character, and a seemingly rich man. Joe, her husband, discovers this, but he still loves her. After her first child was born, things seemed to return to normal. Missie May was tempted not only by having a rash sexual experience with a different man, but mainly by the material things that seemed to go along with the physical aspect (she thought would help her current financial situation). In the end, her truly loving relationship with her husband Joe was restored, and love prevailed.

In conclusion, these three reading all discuss the temptations of sex within relationships, and how these relate to life. It is interesting to see how situations which occurred so many years ago still apply today.