Taming the Beast

Look at what my love has done to him, she thought. My love is so strong you can see it.

‘Shut up! You think you’re so smart, but I know what you’re trying to do. It won’t work.’ Sarah was kissing him, wrestling with his trousers, pulling off her own sweaty shirt. ‘You can’t make me not miss you. Having a stupid orgasm is nothing. Okay? Nothing. God, you’re so stupid! I’m always, always on my own. I could have a thousand stupid orgasms a day if I wanted. But it would just make me more alone. Can’t you understand that? If I touch myself it reminds me that I’m not touching you. I don’t want to touch or be touched by anyone else. I need you. You! Okay, do you get it, you stupid old man?’

as if she disturbed the air when she moved through it.

Mr Carr’s began. Mr Carr explained that this was what Shakespeare meant by ‘the beast with two backs.’ When two people were completely bound in the expression of love, they ceased to be separate individuals and became one creature. The act of passion, when properly performed, created an organism larger than the sum of its parts; it created a beast with two backs, but one soul. Sarah knew it was no metaphor

The problem, as Mr Carr saw it, was that many of the sonnets dealt with themes that couldn’t be understood by your average fourteen year old kid. Sarah told him that the average fourteen year old understood plenty about love and lust and longing; it was the language that put them off.