How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
It was a gesture of great despair and I knew that she was giving herself, not to me, but to that lover who would never come. (2.2.79)
Is David just speaking about Sue? It seems he could also be speaking about himself.
Quote #8
I do not know if his hair has been cut or is long – I should think it would have been cut. I wonder if he is shaven. And now a million details, proof and fruit of intimacy, flood my mind. I wonder, for example, if he feels the need to go to the bathroom, if he has been able to eat today, if he is sweating, or dry. I wonder if anyone has made love to him in prison. And then something shakes me, I feel shaken hard and dry, like some dead thing in the desert, and I know that I am hoping that Giovanni is being sheltered in someone's arms tonight. (2.3.44)
Giovanni has accused David of being afraid of the dirtiness of love. Is the accusation true? Does David here overcome his fear of the filth of love? Why does he take his finical concerns as proof of his love for Giovanni? What is it about love that allows one to be enthralled with another's bodily functions (e.g. the need to go to the bathroom)?
Quote #9
"You do not," cried Giovanni, sitting up, "love anyone! You never have loved anyone, I am sure you never will! You love your purity, you love your mirror – you are just like a little virgin, you walk around with your hands in front of you as though you had some precious metal, gold, silver, rubies, maybe diamonds down there between your legs! You will never give it to anybody, you will never let anybody touch it – man or woman." (2.4.202)
David and Giovanni have already slept together, many times. What does Giovanni mean that David thinks he has "diamonds" between his legs? If he has not already given his love to Giovanni then what would giving them entail? How much of Giovanni's outburst has to do with David? How much of it has to do with Giovanni?