Sons and Lovers in the World Literature Essay

Introduction

Conflict is a basic element in every literary work; It is the spirit of the plot. Usually, the conflicts are between the protagonists and the antagonists (villains). However, the most effective conflict in the work could be with someone else other than the villain. In many works, the person who controls the events is the protagonist’s parent. The parent can be controlling the protagonist’s actions either by being a controlling personality (a father) or by being loved by the protagonist (a mother). Also, some of the major conflicts can be between lovers. The bonds between lovers can be broken by betrayal or dishonesty. Usually, the conflicts end lovers’ relationships.

In this essay, the thesis is going to be demonstrated by exploring the analysis of five different literary works from different genres. The five works are: ‘Coriolanus’ by William Shakespeare, ‘Iphigenia in Aulis’ by Euripides, ‘Medea’ by Euripides, ‘Washington Square’ by Henry James, and ‘Seize the Day by Saul Bellow.

Brief Analysis of the Play, ‘Coriolanus’, by William Shakespeare

Analysis: The protagonist of this play, Coriolanus, has a strong and reckless personality. He doesn’t pay attention to what people say to him. However, the only person who has the power to control his decisions is his beloved mother Volumnia.

Volumnia has a big effect on her son, and she has been building that effect ever since he was born. She was always the loving mother for her son. Her way of raising him made everything that she taught him stick in his mind like it is a part of his brain. Although Volumnia is not the antagonist of this play, her effect on the events of the play is more significant than the effect of any other character; she is the second most important character in the play.

When Coriolanus’s close friend, Menenius Agrippa, suggested a meeting to end the conflict between Coriolanus and the 2 tribunes he refused to attend it, but his mother easily convinced him to go. Also, when he and Aufidius were going to invade Rome, nobody was able to calm his extreme rage down. Surprisingly, he forgot all the humiliation that he received from the Romans after his mother begged him to stop.

The way that Volumnia raised Coriolanus didn’t just make him do what she wanted him to do, but also made him think what she wanted him to think. When the Volscians were preparing their forces to attack Rome, the only Romans who were excited about the war were Volumnia and Coriolanus. They both found the war a way to earn glory and honor.

The relationship between Coriolanus and his mother is something beyond love; it is total respect or maybe even a type of worshipping. If Volumnia and another person asked Coriolanus to do something, he may accept the request from his mother and reject it from the other person.

Volumnia seems to be taking advantage of her obeying son; she uses him as a way to have power in a male-dominated society.

The relationship between Volumnia and Coriolanus is not similar to any regular relationships between a mother and a son. Coriolanus seems like he is obeying his mother’s orders with his heart. Many of his mother’s orders require him to be forgiving and humble although he is a stubborn person, he always obeyed her orders.

Brief Analysis of the Play, ‘Iphigenia in Aulis’, by Euripides

Analysis: The main conflict in the play is between Iphigenia (protagonist) and her father Agamemnon (antagonist). Agamemnon is a stubborn person who cares only about his own opinions. What causes the conflict in this play is the clash between the stubborn personality of Agamemnon and the submissive personality of Iphigenia.

In the relationship between Iphigenia and her father, he is controlling her actions and decisions, and that’s by being a controlling parent. When the seer, Chalice, told Agamemnon that Artemis will agree to move the winds desirably if he sacrifices his daughter, he immediately agreed. He didn’t ask her about her opinion or give her details.

Brief Analysis of the Play, ‘Medea’, by Euripides

Analysis: The main conflict for Medea (protagonist) was with her husband Josh (antagonist). In the beginning, everything was fine between the couple, but their relationship faced a big problem when Josh betrayed her by marrying the daughter of King Creon, Creusa.

Medea is a rebellious and foolhardy person; she does what makes her happy regardless of the results. She had a conflict with her father, but it was a minor one in the play. Medea doesn’t seem to be a very smart character; Josh was able to make her marry him easily. Also, he made her do things that made her father upset.

After Josh decided to marry the daughter of King Ceron, she decided to suppress her rebellious personality to commit her revenge. She gave Josh poisonous gifts for his new wife, a dress, and a coronet. Here, Medea seems to show smartness, but planning to kill many people for one person’s mistake doesn’t look smart. Her foolishness got bigger when she decided to kill her children just to make Josh feel pain.

Josh is a manipulative character; he was able to marry Medea even though she is not an easy person to deal with. He always used his skills to get what he wants. When he felt that marrying Cerusa will support his position in society, he decided to use his charming skills to become close to the royal family. Even after he married Cerusa, he tried to use his manipulative skills to convince Medea that this marriage will be good for her and the kids. However, this attempt wasn’t successful and the conflict continued.

Medea and Josh are different from each other, but the only thing that brought them together was love. This love relationship turned into a fatal feud because one of them betrayed the other, and the betrayed person committed foolish actions to commit revenge. Each one of them destroyed the other’s life.

Brief Analysis of the Novel, ‘Washington Square’, by Henry James

Analysis: The main conflict in the novel is between Catherine (protagonist) and her father Dr. Austin Sloper. However, the conflict between Catherine and Morris can be considered a major one. The conflict between Catherine and her father was about whether Catherine should marry Morris Townsend or not. Each one of them had a completely different opinion about this relationship.

Catherine never had a lover in her life and saw Morris as a good chance for her. Unfortunately, Morris wanted her money only, and Dr. Sloper knew that. Dr. Sloper has a mixed influence on Catherine’s life; sometimes he is a controlling father and sometimes he depends on his daughter’s love to get what he wants from her.

He was a controlling parent when he took Catherine to Europe to separate her and Morris. He tried to make the trip very long without caring about Catherine’s feelings. Also, Dr. Sloper decided that most of Catherine’s inheritance that he will leave after his death will go to charity; he didn’t even discuss that issue with her.

Sometimes, Dr. Sloper showed that he is a loving father who depended on his daughter’s love to make her obey his orders. He wanted Morris to stay away from his house, but he couldn’t prevent him from visiting Catherine because he was treating her nicely.

Dr. Sloper tried to keep his money away from Morris. However, he didn’t withhold Catherine’s inheritance that was left by her mother. Also, Dr. Sloper never told Catherine directly to forget her relationship with Morris; he depended on several plans to separate between them. The only time he asked her to end her relationship with Morris was before his death.

The conflict between Catherine and Morris can be found in a small part of the novel. Morris disappeared and stopped contacting her for years. When he visited her again he didn’t receive the usual response that he used to find. His absence had a big influence on Catherine; she will live the rest of her life without a man and will try to enjoy life in other ways.

Brief Analysis of the Novel, ‘Seize the Day’, by Saul Bellow

Analysis: The most effective conflict is between Tommy Wilhelm (protagonist) and his father, Dr. Adler Wilhelm. In this novel, both Dr. Adler and Dr. Tamkin can be considered the antagonists.

Dr. Tamkin was a fraudulent person who claimed several false things about himself. From one perspective, Tamkin can be considered the antagonist because of what he did to Tommy’s money. Tommy’s life was already full of problems when Tamkin suggested investing his savings in the stock market. Tamkin lost all the money because he didn’t have any experience in the stock market.

From another perspective, Tamkin can be considered a friend of Tommy because he was helping him. He used to talk with him and give him life advice; this was something that Tommy needed in his life.

Dr. Adler can be considered the antagonist of the novel from one perspective. He considers Tommy a failure in his life and he even tells him that. Dr. Adler doesn’t provide his son with any kind of help no matter how big his problems are.

From another perspective, he can be considered a friend and a helper for Tommy. Dr. Adler hates that Tommy has a childish personality. Probably he refuses to help his son because he wants him to grow up and start to solve his problems by himself.

Is There Anything in Common between These Works?

1. The Image of the Parent: The father is mostly portrayed as a villain. He doesn’t try to look soft in front of his wife or kids. He usually drives his son/daughter to do certain things by being a controlling and dominant person. The father doesn’t seem to be expressing his love for his kid’s indirect ways. The writers of these works were probably influenced by their surrounding cultures. Here are some examples of that:

In ‘Iphigenia in Aulis’, Iphigenia’s father, Agamemnon, wanted to sacrifice his daughter to the goddess Artemis. He didn’t ask his wife or daughter about their opinions. All he wanted is forgiveness from the goddess. Here, the father is portrayed as a dominant figure, and he doesn’t show compassion.

In ‘Washington Square’, Catherine’s father, Dr. Austin Sloper, tried to end the relationship between Catherine and Morris. He determined how much her inheritance will be. Also, he asked Catherine to forget about her relationship with Morris. Here, Dr. Sloper is a father with a dominant personality. Interestingly, Dr. Sloper couldn’t prevent Catherine from seeing Morris because he was nice to her. At the same time, he doesn’t want Catherine to have a relationship with a fake and greedy person like Morris. Here, Dr. Sloper is a loving father, but he doesn’t express his love for his daughter directly.

In ‘Seize the Day, Tommy’s father, Dr. Adler, was always criticizing his son for everything he does. Also, he doesn’t provide him with any kind of necessary help through his hard times. Here, Dr. Adler’s image is close to the image of a tough father who doesn’t show softness to his kids. But, probably, Dr. Adler is not showing compassion to his son because he wants him to grow and start to depend on himself. Here, Dr. Adler is a father who doesn’t express his love for his kids directly.

The image of the mother is different. She has more compassion than the father has. She doesn’t have a problem with showing her love for her son/daughter. Unlike the father, the mother depends on love and respect from her kids to influence them. Coriolanus is a good example of that. Coriolanus’s mother, Volumnia, depends on her son’s love and respect to convince him to do what she wants him to do. When the Volscians were preparing for their attack on Rome, both Coriolanus and his mother were happy and ready for the war. That is because Coriolanus’s mother raised him on the same principle that she believed in. Also, when Coriolanus was about to attack Rome, his mother was the only one who could tame him and convince him to stop.

2. The Image of the Male Lover: The male lover is portrayed as a dishonest person who doesn’t respect the relationship that he is involved in. He is not liked by his lover’s father. Also, his greed destroys a strong relationship. Here are some examples of that:

In ‘Medea’, Josh married Medea and promised her that he will never marry another woman. Medea’s father liked him at first, but after several events, he started to hate him. After they fled to Corinth, Josh had an opportunity to marry the daughter of King Creon. He wanted this marriage because it would ensure him a better position in society. This greedy decision led to his misery; he lost his wife, lover, and kids.

In ‘Washington Square’, Morris wanted to marry Catherine because her father, Dr. Sloper was rich. Dr.Sloper knew his intentions, and he didn’t like the young man. Morris left town after Dr. Sloper’s fortune was affected by the trip to Europe. He returned several years after that. His greedy decisions made him lose a woman that was able to love him.

3. The Image of the Female Lover: The female lover always enjoys the relationship more than the male lover does. She is the devoted person in the relationship. She doesn’t care about her parents’ opinion regarding the relationship. If the love relationship failed, the female’s reaction can be extreme. Also, the betrayal in a love relationship can change the personality of the female lover. Here are some examples of that:

In ‘Medea’, Medea fell deeply in love with Josh. She made her father angry because she allowed Josh to obtain the Golden Fleece. She even made her father decide to arrest her. After Josh betrayed her, the extreme love turned into extreme hate and led to extreme revenge. She decided to kill king Creon, Princess Creusa, and her own 2 children.

In ‘Washington Square’, Catherine fell deeply in love with Morris. She wasn’t very smart and he was able to fool her easily. All she wanted was a man who can love her and take care of her. Her father wasn’t happy with this relationship. After the long disappearance of Morris, she found out that Morris is a fraudulent man. Because of this experience, she decided to live the rest of her life alone. This relationship changed her opinions about men.

4. The Image of the Son/Daughter: Sons and daughters are submissive to their parents in most cases; they obey their orders and don’t argue. The son/daughter obeys the parent either because he/she is respected and loved or because the parent is a controlling person. Usually, parents take advantage of this privilege to force their sons/daughters to do what they want them to do. Here are some examples of that:

In ‘Coriolanus’, Coriolanus isn’t an easy person to deal with. Nobody can convince Coriolanus to change his opinions even if he is very crafty. However, he is submissive to his mother. She convinced him to attend the meeting to make peace with the two tribunes when they had a big feud with them. Also, when all the people of Rome begged Coriolanus to stop his attack on Rome he didn’t change his mind until his mother begged him to stop. Coriolanus obeys his mother because he loves and respects her.

In ‘Iphigenia in Aulis’, Iphigenia was submissive to her father Agamemnon when he decided to sacrifice her to the goddess. She never argued or even tried to disappear, but she agreed to please her father and bring glory to Greece. Iphigenia obeys her father because she loves and respects him, and also because he is a controlling father. Unlike different cases, the protagonist here obeys her father for both reasons.

In ‘Washington Square’, Catherine is submissive to her father Dr. Sloper, but not submissive like Coriolanus or Iphigenia. She obeys nearly all her father’s orders. When Dr. Sloper asked her to come with him on a trip to Europe she agreed and didn’t complain about leaving Morris behind. Catherine didn’t obey her father’s order when he asked her to promise him that she will not marry Morris. Catherine obeys Dr. Sloper because he is a controlling person.

In ‘Seize the Day’, the case is different. Tommy is a grown-up man, and he deals with his father differently. Tommy doesn’t receive orders from his father like the protagonists in the other works. However, when his father criticizes him he never complains. Also, when his father refuses to help him he doesn’t complain; he just keeps what he wants to say for himself. Tommy respects his father because he is a controlling parent.

Conclusion

The parent can be the main factor in the events; he/she can be even more important than the protagonist. For example, in the play ‘Coriolanus’, Coriolanus’s mother Volumnia wasn’t the protagonist nor was it the antagonist, but she was a very important character in the play. She controlled the life of the protagonist. Her influence on Coriolanus made him a warrior. This influence also made Coriolanus attend the peace-making meeting which resulted in exiling him. When Coriolanus was ready to attack Rome, her influence convinced him to stop, and that resulted in his unfortunate end later.

In other cases, the parent is involved in the conflict. With parents, the conflict between the protagonist and the parent can be about opinions or point views, but not a real feud. But with lovers, it’s a different case. If the protagonist fell in love with a person, he/she could love this person even more than a parent. But in conflicts, revenge can be more extreme than if it is with an enemy. This case can be seen more clearly if the protagonist is a female. The play, ‘Medea’, is a good example of that. Medea fell in love with Josh; this extreme love made her commit things that made her father angry. But after Josh betrayed her, she killed several people including her beloved children just to cause him pain.