The Song Of Songs Analysis

In The Song of Songs, the Shulamite and her lover are everything but what society conforms to. In their Hebrew society there are rules and restrictions pertaining to sexual relations and who is allowed to marry who. These rules are stated in the book of Deuteronomy, and if the citizens do not abide by the laws written in the book, the punishments were harsh and brutal. However, the Shulamite and her lover seemed to be living in their own world where they could not care less about what society thought of them. In this poem, The Shulamite and her lover break many laws, and in most cases, desire seems to be considered a higher law to them than anything written in Deuteronomy. To begin with, the Song of Songs takes place in a patriarchic society,
Marriages were arranged for women by their parents. In the Song of Songs, the Shulamite doesn't seem to have a father, but she does have brothers, so they are the decision makers for her life. Her brothers do not like her lover at all. A couple of times in the poem and ultimately in the end, her lover is run off by the brothers. The reason behind her brothers' disapproval are thought to be many things, but the most common thought is the social class difference. Possibly he was too poor to afford a marriage. Anyway, despite what her brothers told her, she continued to see her lover. This angered her brothers. To her brothers, the Shulamite was still seen as a child. In chapter 8 verse 8 it reads, "We have a little sister and she has no breasts...", meaning that in their eyes she has not yet reached maturity. But she argues back to her brothers saying "I am a wall and my breasts are towers. But for my lover I am a city of peace." (8:10). She is basically saying that she is mature and she should be allowed to make her own
In the Hebrew society, that is considered the upmost evil doing because it ruins the woman's chances of getting married. In an article titled Laws on Sexual Morality and Purity Deuteronomy 22:13-30, author Gail Davis, breaks down the laws written on sexual relations in Deuteronomy. He discusses the importance of women being virgins until marriage and why unengaged men and women sleeping together is inappropriate. Davis states, "...by doing this, he stole the father's property and his pride, his daughter." He goes on to say, "The man ruined the girl's chance to be married as a virgin bride and gave her a bad reputation." The punishment for committing this crime is that the man has to marry her without being able to divorce her and he must pay the woman's father double the price of a virgin marriage. This is actually a decent punishment compared to others. For