No length of time is enough for abiding love.
(1.19.25-26) Although it seems that there is a difference of opinion between Propertius and Werther, they both have the same rationale. They both face the truth. The former, though disturbed by his affair with Cynthia, realizes that he cannot be sure of his fate in the Underworld, and must thus embrace the relationship while he lives. 18 Werther, on the other hand, in his deluded state of mind, accepts love after death as the one and only outcome – for him, love after death is not only possible, it is the truth he seeks. Both Propertius and Werther are victims of Âtormented loveÊ. Despite the differences in style of Propertius and Goethe (Propertius creates Cynthia to blur the lines between reality and imagination – in PropertiusÊ ÂElegiesÊ Âreality is experienced as a network of representationsÊ 19 , whereas Goethe uses the name ÂWertherÊ as a nom-de-plume to write about his lustful experiences), their depiction of love towards a femme fatale is remarkably similar, from pleas for sympathy and caution, to unprovoked outbursts towards advice and the hope that their Âtormented loveÊ can continue for eternity.
18 See Lyne (1996) ad Prop 1.19. 19 See Kennedy (1993) ÂRepresentation and the rhetoric of realityÊ.
129
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker