Love and lust are themes frequently represented in plays, novels, short stories and poems. Written by Greek playwright Aristophanes, Lysistrata is a comical play characterized by the theme of lust. In Lysistrata, the female characters implement a sexual embargo against their spouses until an end to the Peloponnesian War is promised. The literary elements, plot details and character dialogues in Lysistrata, exhibit the power of sexual desire, known as lust. The leader of the female band, Lysistrata, understood the wild libido of men, and manipulated man’s weakness to in turn to her own agenda. Aristophanes uses sexual and graphic phrases such as, “who move in my direction in erection,” and describes the men’s sexual tension by stating that each man was roaming streets with “walking sticks,” and the frequent phrase “I want sex”. Near the end of the play, `Reconciliation`- a nude female figure was presented before the men, and acted as a crude embodiment of physical desire, or lust. The men overcome by the physical beauty of her bare figure- subdued by the power of lust and slavery of the eyes, gave in to the women`s demands and agreed to end the war. In contrast, the relationship between Gerardo and Paulina in the book Death and the Maiden, is a pure representation of love. Paulina and Gerardo both shared mutual interests; they both hated the old communist regime and were ambitiously hoping well for the new democratic state. Gerardo was a political activist and lawyer, whereas Paulina was a political prisoner who experienced brutal torture and rape at the hands of the old regime. Despite that Paulina was experiencing such a tremendous amount of physical pain, she refused to give Gerardo’s name to authorities. As Felix Adler stated, “love is the preference of another soul over your own.” It was the profound love between Paulina and Gerardo that caused Paulina to place her husband over herself. Paulina frequently refers to her spouse as “darling,” and “my love.” The reader is also shown how Paulina’s love for Gerardo transfigures into jealousy when she finds about Gerardo’s love affairs. However, the epitome of their love is within their argumentative dialogue- one that vents steam, but does not boil. Ariel Dorfman encapsulates the relationship of husband and wife and the love therein by showing that there are conflicts, but the mutual love causes a compromise that leads to a solution.
By examining the relationship between Paulina and Roberto, in contrast to the characters of the Greek comedy Lysistrata, the difference between love and lust is made clear. Paulina and Roberto were able to survive through the harshest times, allowing their relationship to continue on the basis of compromise. On the other hand, the wild, untamable forces of lust lead to the end of a war in Ancient Greece. Love and lust are contrasting entities, nestled in opposite spectrums.