Quo Vadis And Spartacus Essay

In both Quo Vadis and Spartacus, sexuality and power together are intertwined closely. Typically, these characters in positions of power casually proposition and abuse those below them via sexual suggestion. Contrasted against the protagonists who are more chaste and less blatant in sexual desire, the antagonists are thus depicted negatively as hypersexual beings.

For a film made in the 1950s, Quo Vadis is surprisingly feminist in its treatment of Poppaea. The empress clearly plays the role of a femme fatale; flanked by cheetahs in an early scene, her command over the animals represent not only her aggressive sexual pursuit of Marcus Vinicius, but the brutality of her character. When her advances are spurned, she retaliates with a cruel vengeance

After a long campaign, he victoriously rides back into Rome eager to bed women that are not savages. Initially upon meeting Lygia, Marcus pursues her doggedly, lavishing her with compliments. After Lygia refuses him, Marcus plots to have her transferred to his care as she is not a free woman, but a hostage so that he may have his way with her. Marcus sees no wrong in using his status as a high-ranking Roman to possess Lygia, However, Lygia escapes and in his attempts to recapture her, Marcus realises that he wants her to not only submit to him, but to love him. This transition from lust to love is what marks his growth from brutish Roman to heroic lover. In Spartacus, the character of Gracchus, a composite of the real-life Gracchi brother, is openly indulgent in his exploitation of female slaves. Gracchus is easily pleased by different types of women and yet this character is shown to disapprove of the path that Rome finds herself, differentiating himself from his fellow Romans. In the end of Spartacus, it is even this hedonistic man that chooses to allow Varinia to escape the depraved clutches of