Pyramus and Thisbe Interpretation Essay

Kayla Harding
Interpretation Essay
Myth 2
26 September 2008

Pyramus and Thisbe

We are all familiar with perhaps one of the greatest love stories ever written, Romeo and Juliet. That story is so similar to the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe. In both stories, there are two people who love each other, but their parents would not let them be together. So they decide to go off together, unfortunately everything goes wrong. The guy thinks that his girl is dead, so he kills himself, and the girl comes back to find him dead and kills herself to be with him. It is all so sad. The story of Pyramus and Thisbe sort of tells us why the berries of the mulberry bush are red. Our Pyramus is Romeo, and Thisbe is Juliet.

Thisbe on a natural level is human. She is very lovely, the most lovely maiden in Babylon. We can also easily figure out that she is in love. That’s a big fat “Duh!” On a deeper level of interpreting Thisbe as a symbol, on the Social level, we go back to our dear “Juliet” being in love. She is also an explanation of why the berries are red. Her blood splattered on the berries turning them red. To go even deeper, the Psychological level, Thisbe is rebellious and love struck. She cannot actually be with her love her parents are against it. She goes off to secretly talk to him through a wall, for that is the only way she can talk to Pyramus. Then she agrees to run away with him. Thisbe also longs and desires to be with her love. There is also secrecy if you noticed. Nobody knows she talks to her beloved Pyramus or that she plans on sneaking out.

Another symbol to interpret is Pyramus. On the Natural level, he is beautiful, and yes, guys can be beautiful. He, like Thisbe, is also human and in love. He is quite a bit like Thisbe on every level. On the Social level, he too is an explanation of the red berries of the mulberry bush. In fact, since he was the first to stab himself, his blood was the first to splatter on the snow-white berries. He did it out of love. Pyramus on the Psychological level is pretty much the exact same as Thisbe, he is in love, he is rebellious, he too longs and desires his love, and he is secret about it.
The last symbol to interpret is the mulberry bush. On the Natural level, it is a plan with berries on it. Interpreting the plant on the Social level, it is a meeting point. What makes it really funny is that it is next to a tomb, the Tomb of Ninus. In Romeo and Juliet, the two lovers die in a tomb. To finish this interpretation, the mulberry bush on the Psychological level represents fear, for Pyramus and Thisbe feared that they lost each other there. The mulberry bush also stands for separation because they were separated by death. It also represents togetherness. Pyramus and Thisbe planned to be together, and they were going to meet by this bush and run away together. Then things went wrong and Pyramus stabbed himself, and Thisbe did too, to be with her love again.

Is this the story where Shakespeare got his idea for Romeo and Juliet? The two stories are so much a like! In both Romeo and Juliet and the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, the two lovers fall in love, they are not allowed to be with each other, they decide to be together anyway, and then they end up committing suicide to be together. The things one does for love.