Maggie, we're through with lies and liars in this house. Lock the door.
Oh, Jacques, we're used to each other, we're a pair of captive hawks caught in the same cage, and so we've grown used to each other. That's what passes for love at this dim, shadowy end of the Camino Real.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote expresses a complex form of love that arises from familiarity, but also hints at confinement and lack of freedom.
In this quote, Tennessee Williams encapsulates the idea that love can sometimes develop in constrained circumstances, where two individuals become so accustomed to each other that their bond feels like a comfortable yet restrictive familiarity. The metaphor of 'captive hawks' illustrates how, despite their deep connection, they are both limited in their potential and freedom, suggesting that love may not always be pure or liberating but can also embody elements of dependency and entrapment.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about the complexities of relationships, one might quote this to illustrate the challenges of love within constraints.
More from Tennessee Williams
All quotes →Time rushes towards us with its hospital tray of infinitely varied narcotics, even while it is preparing us for its inevitably fatal operation.
Show me a person who hasn´t known any sorrow and I´ll show you a superficial.
Success and failure are equally disastrous.
The rest of my days I'm going to spend on the sea. And when I die, I'm going to die on the sea. You know what I shall die of? I shall die of eating an unwashed grape. One day out on the ocean I will die — with my hand in the hand of some nice-looking ship's doctor, a very young one with a small blond moustache and a big silver watch.
Life is partly what we make it, and partly what it is made by the friends we choose.
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Affection would not be affection if it was loudly and frequently expressed; to produce it in public is like getting your household furniture out for a move. It did very well in its place, but it looks shabby or tawdry or grotesque in the sunshine.
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Without your wounds where would your power be? It is your melancholy that makes your low voice tremble into the hearts of men and women. The very angels themselves cannot persuade the wretched and blundering children on earth as can one human being broken on the wheels of living. In Love’s service, only wounded soldiers can serve. Physician, draw back.