Essay Questions

What does the dragon represent in the contemporary romance? - “Michael Robartes and The Dancer”

Michael Robartes explicates, “the half-dead dragon was her thought./That every morning rose again/ and dug its claws and shrieked and fought.” The knight incarnated the half-dead dragon that the lady was apprehensive about. The allusion to the dragon relates to the masculine rage that could jeopardise a fairy-like love story. Michael Robartes furtively implies that the knight did not exterminate the dragon as the lady had foreseen. Consequently, the dragon awakened in the course of their love. Robartes admonishes women for supposing that their lovers would automatically butcher all the dragons that could endanger their affairs. The dragon’s claws typify domestic violence that endangers defenseless women.

What can you conclude about the nature of he’s image? - “An Image From a Past Life”

The image transmits reminiscences of a previous lover. The she covers the he’s eyes in the course of their discourse regarding images for “A sweetheart from another life floats there/As though she had been forced to linger/From vague distress.” The she is convinced that the river that they are watching resuscitates remembrances of the he’s preceding lover. So ‘she’ opts to cover his eyes so that he cannot associate the imagery of the river with the former lover. The she thinks that the past image is a menace to her association with the he. However, the image is unconscious so masking the eyes will not impact the fundamental unconscious.