In Octavio Paz's book The Double Flame, he describes three different categories of love that can arise between partners: sexuality, eroticism and love. The first category, sexuality, refers to the biological and instinctive need to reproduce, while eroticism describes the pleasure and desire of the sexual act. 'Love, refers to an attraction to the person as a whole and encompasses an equal sharing of the sexual act between the body and the soul. While "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell and ". Sonnet 116" by William Shakespeare both continue the theme of love, each poem describes a different type of love than the other "To His Coy Mistress." "seems to conform to Paz's second type of love, l eroticism; however, "Sonnet 116" offers an alternative to all three types of Paz. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on 'Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned'? Get Original Essay The speaker in Marvell's 'To His Coy Mistress' yearns for a woman he tries to persuade into bed with him. Because they will not live forever, the speaker asserts, he and his mistress should then “tear [their] pleasures apart in fierce struggle” (43) as soon as possible, while they still have the chance. The speaker's emphasis is on obtaining pleasure through sexual intercourse, not on producing offspring. Although the speaker claims that if he had all the time in the world he would spend "thirty thousand" (16) years adoring her to death, he may only be saying this to try to woo so that he can fulfill his desire as quickly as possible. as possible. He knows he doesn't have much time, so he can tell her without ever having to prove it. The speaker is not motivated by a biological need to reproduce, nor does he possess an equal sharing of love between the bodies and souls of his mistresses; he focuses entirely on his body. The speaker only wants to indulge in bliss by having sex and, as soon as possible, avoid any chance of his desire turning to ashes. For this reason, the speaker's love for his mistress falls into Paz's second category, eroticism. Because in the first stanza of “To His Coy Mistress,” the speaker focuses on the mistress as a whole, not just her pure personality. erotic desire for one's body, it is tempting to classify the poem in Paz's third category, Love. The speaker states that his “Vegetable Love” (11) would grow slowly, and would be “Larger than empires” (12) if he had more time. He insists that he would spend "An age at least in every part" (17), indicating that he would love her as a whole person and would devote an enormous amount of time to her. However, the reader cannot be sure that the speaker is telling the entire truth, because he or she has no way of proving it. The speaker wants to engage “now, like amorous birds of prey” (38), in sexual intercourse, and his aggressive tone indicates that he is growing impatient. His impatience suggests that the speaker is eager to explore his mistresses' bodies and is not interested in anything else. Furthermore, if he really wanted more than her body, he probably wouldn't try to scare her with crude images ("then Worms will try / this long-preserved virginity" [27-2])) with the idea that if she does not give up her virginity soon, if not immediately, she risks dying a virgin. Because the speaker is unwilling to wait and let his love for his mistress develop before engaging in the sexual act, and is only interested in ensuring that his desire does not develop not in ashes, his love is purely, 2002. 1092.