...The oldest love story in the world * The Story of Pyramus and Thisbe -is the oldest love story in the world. It's a story we still tell - and it's a tragedy.It's a familiar tale to all of us although we may not instantly recognise the names of the ancient lovers. You know it very well, it's the story of young lovers whose union is thwarted by their opposing parents and whose lives end in double suicide based on a misunderstanding. The story was recorded by the Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses written sometime in the 1st century. Ovid heard the story from the Greeks, who heard the story (it is said) from Tunisian traders who heard it from Persian travellers. The 14th century saw a revival in its popularity with Petrarch recording the story in 1340, Boccaccio in 1342 and, in 1386, Chaucer wrote The Legend of Thisbe. So Shakespeare used the sorrowful story of Pyramus and Thisbe in Midsummer Night's Dream and enriched the plot in Romeo and Juliet, but he borrowed the story from Ovid, who borrowed it from the Greeks, who borrowed it from the Middle East. It was the basis for West Side Story. Pyramus and Thisbe, the Plot Legend tells us that Pyramus was the handsomest youth, and Thisbe the fairest maiden, in all Babylonia, where Semiramis reigned. The two lived in adjoining houses and contrived somehow to strike up an aquaintance by conversing through a crack in the shared wall. Friendship flourished and blossomed into love as the young couple shared their...
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... The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare features two lovers that want to be together, but their old lives couldn't fit together. Pyramus and Thisbe written by Ovid follow the same archetype and both stories have symbols that can overlap. Furthermore, the stories, share a common ending, the lovers taking their own lives. The misunderstandings that the characters face in trying to make their admiration for each other face a blunt end. The story and play have metaphors that can cross over as they follow the course of events; it shows that even the best intentions of love can have dire consequences. One thing that both stories share is the split between the parents. Ovid integrates how Pyramus and Thisbe can’t see each other, but their hidden love grows stronger. The only thing that separates them is a wall and their parents. Ovid wrote, "...in houses so close together that one wall was common to both". (947) Since the two stories, share the same archetype Shakespeare follows with the family grudge. It draws a line between Romeo and...
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...The main characters in both pieces of literature believe that they are destined to be together. Romeo and Juliet are not destined to be together. Juliet’s judgement is clouded by the fact that she is betrothed to Paris. Romeo just cares about getting over Rosaline and ending the feud. Pyramus and Thisbe are just afraid to be apart and have to find someone else. All these characters are just looking for excuses not to be alone. When Juliet is told that she will marry Paris. She doesn’t want to disappoint her mother, so she agrees. Juliet does not want to marry Paris so she keeps her eyes open for another suitor. Juliet thinks that if she finds someone else everything will be better. Fate was a big theme in Romeo and Juliet. This is well illustrated by the saying star-crossed lovers. If this was true people...
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...The Tomba di Giulietta of Juliet is a myth. Only the Montague family is originally from Verona, while the Capulet family is from Brescia. Romeo and Juliet “love” each other, but in reality would a couple really commit suicide to express their love for eachother. In the Glencoe Literature “The reader's choice” page 778 lines 92-96 it states that Juliet had drank some sort of distilling liquor, putting her into some sort of coma. Well, back in that era and time people could see if somebody’s heart was beating through a pulse, and Juliet obviously didn’t have one. Only the Montague family is originally from Verona, while the Capulet family is from Brescia. The oldest known story of Romeo and Juliet states that Pyramus and Thisbe lived in Babylon and Ctesias, this means that the two feuding families were from two different cities. There were no reports of fighting between the Capuleti & Montecchi in the courtyard entrance, so...
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