Why Does Friar Lawrence Have a Date Rape Drug?: Puzzling Questions About the Classics

FadingRose has some interesting questions about the classics. Personally, we've always wondered why Hester didn't just tell everyone what a weenie Dimmesdale is. —SparkNotes editors

We all have to read Shakespeare, Homer, and the other big guys. And while we love and appreciate these revered writers, sometimes they puzzle us. Here are just six persistent questions I have about the classics:

1. Why didn't Polybus and Merope try to find out where Oedipus went after he mysteriously disappeared from home? Did they just not care? My parents would go ballistic if I set off on a dangerous quest just 'cause some drunk guy said the king wasn’t my real father.
2. Odysseus is praised for rejecting Calypso and staying loyal to Penelope—but if he's so “loyal,” what's up with his little fling with Circe?
3. Why did Lenina keep her shoes and socks on? Normally, those would be the first to come off, I’d say.
4. Gulliver could have easily run across Lilliput and gotten some water—did he really have to pee on the palace? If I saw an anthill on fire, I wouldn’t think, hmm… let me pee on it and see what happens.
5. How did Victor not realize that the monster was going to kill Elizabeth after he denied the monster a mate? (I mean, the monster spells it out: "I go; but remember, I shall be with you on your wedding-night.") For someone who succeeded in creating a living monster out of dead people…Victor’s pretty dense.
6. Why does Friar Lawrence have a date rape drug? Juliet vents her problem, and then he immediately pulls out the “potion” that will “make her appear dead.” Does he always carry this with him? Why?? This friar seems pretty sketchy.

What puzzles you about the classics?

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