Original artwork, not a still
She hugg'd the offender, and forgave the offence: Sex to the last.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
During a storm after Cymon has taken Iphigene by force, she turns from blaming him to embracing and forgiving him. The narrator then generalises contemptuously about women. The linked story exposes the coercive setting; the quotation neither establishes free consent nor supplies a rule about how women behave.
Sources (1)
- Dryden, collected works (Scott edition, 1808)Cymon and Iphigenia: storm after Cymon’s seizure of IphigeneReference checked
Context reviewed
