The relationship between Yeats and Gonne seems to show an example of the traditional courtly love. Courtly love was a medieval Europe conception of nobly and chivalrously expressing love and admiration. Under this relationship, although a male expresses the devotional love to a female, a woman shows no love and pity for a man and a woman is an object who uplifts a man's spirit. This relationship may be said to show the man's fear of castration. The relationship between Yeats and Gonne starts by his admiration for her beauty and sternness as a nationalist for the Irish Independence. Also, he glorifies her as a secret being. Moreover, Yeats's love for her shows the doubleness: erotic and spiritual, humane and transcendental, and humiliating and proud. However, Gonne's coldness leads Yeats to desperation. And the last step shows Yeats's fear of castration for the politically-minded Maud Gonne. In Rose, there is Yeats's admiration for the secret woman, Maud Gonne. Yeats's unrequited love leads finally to desperation and sorrow for love, facing Gonne‘s unwavering coldness as a nationalist, which leads Yeats to give her up, showing a kind of fear of castration.
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