Although the nature versus nurture debate appears to be a rather contemporary argument, it was in fact a common thematic element of Elizabethan literature. Christopher Marlowe, in particular, focused on human behavior and the influences of natural instinct versus learned habits. In his "minor epic" Hero and Leander, Marlowe differentiates between nature and nurture by characterizing each of his main characters as one or the other. While Leander embodies nature in his sexual desire and desire, Hero is representative of nurture in his flirtation and repressed sexual desires. Yet, by gendering nature and nurture as characteristics of men and women, Marlowe ensures that men's “natural” desires become excused behaviors. It is the responsibility of women to repel the sexual advances of men and to preserve female virginity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why violent video games should not be banned"?Get the original essayMarlowe uses both Hero and Leander and their reactions to their own beauty, as well as their desire for each other other, to characterize Hero as a culturally conscious being. female and Leander as a nature-motivated male; this characterization also places the majority of the blame for the premarital affair on Hero while simultaneously excusing Leander for his acts of cruelty towards her. According to Marlowe, Hero is aware of her own beauty and the effect it has on men. Her reaction to the “people” who “run to look at her” is to “condemn” them with her “contemptuous eyes” (Marlowe 1007 ll. 117-23). She looks at the men who look into her eyes when she catches them staring at her beauty instead of looking away and avoiding their gazes. Marlowe suggests that, in doing so, Hero knowingly challenges these men to pursue her because she is aware that it is in their "nature" to sexually desire women. Therefore, when Leander is caught looking at Hero and she looks back in his direction, she is to blame because "From there flew love's arrow with a head of gold,/And so Leander was in love” (Marlowe 1008 ll. 161-162). Marlowe does not mention that Hero's natural sexual desire caused her to return Leander's gaze, thus leaving the reader to believe that her curiosity about him is a flaw she acquired over the course of her life rather than one with which she was born. Hero uses her own beauty to manipulate men because, although she is a creature of learned habits, she knows that men are naturally uncontrollable in their sexual desires and "wants" them to become in love with her. In their work, Automated Marlowe: Hero and Leander, Boehrer and Henley state that Hero manipulates "sexual desire itself." The way she dresses becomes a sign of a studied repression of her own erotic impulses—a repression that Marlowe's narrative undertakes to undo” (Boehrer, Henley 13). The use of the word "study" implies that Hero understands the situation and that his sexual desire is a learned behavior rather than a natural impulse. Her clothes, although modest, only enhance her mystery, and she knows that, combined with her natural beauty, the clothes she adorns herself with make men even more curious to know what she hides underneath. Leander, on the other hand, is uninterested and unaware of his own beauty and the effect it has on others, according to Marlowe. In describing Leander's appearance, Marlowe states that "Some swore he was a maid dressed as a man, / For in his appearance were all that mendesired” (Marlowe ll. 83-84). Léandre is unable to control the fact that men are attracted to him as if he were a woman. It's not in his "nature" to find men attractive and so it's not his fault if they find him as handsome as a woman. In a way that recalls his naivety about his own beauty, he is unaware that Hero is “manipulating” him by showing him attention. In response to his “natural” infatuation, Leander begins “to display/the sacred fire of love, with words, with sighs and tears,/which like sweet music entered the ears of Hero” (Marlowe 1008 ll. 193-195). Although Leander pursues Hero fiercely, Marlowe suggests that Hero appreciates the effect she has had on him and is aroused by Leander attempting to seduce her with his words. She has the ability to stop him from continuing to pursue her because “naturally” she has no sexual desire for him. It is her own learned behavior that causes her to let him continue his advances. Marlowe further suggests that Hero desires Leander because she has the ability to make him desire her rather than because she actually desires him sexually. Marlowe states that “(All women are sexually ambiguous)” (Marlowe 1013 l. 428). Hero is a virgin but she is not innocent according to Marlowe's definition. Because she has no desire for men, she must instead desire manipulation. Although Hero has little to say on the subject of lust, William Weaver states that because she "speaks two words aloud, 'To Venus,' in the first 337 lines of the poem" (Weaver 16), Marlowe attempts to compare it to Venus who was coveted by all men who laid eyes on her and who was considered a symbol of female sexuality. Weaver also states that "Hero's relative silence corresponds to his otherworldly priestly role as an object of men's gaze" (Weaver 16). Marlowe uses Hero's calm nature to show how even this part of his personality is manipulative. She is as silent as a statue of Venus, but her beauty combined with her determined looks in men's eyes reveals more about her than her words alone could. She is, however, unable to foresee how her own flirtation with Leander will lead to her breaking her vow and losing her virginity at the end of the poem. Yet Marlowe makes it clear that it is his own manipulation of men that leads to his downfall. Leander is “naturally” inclined to take advantage of the situation he finds himself in while Hero’s “natural ambiguity” has nothing to do with her decision to have sex with him. Leander, on the other hand, is entirely justified in his uncontrollable lust for Hero according to Marlowe. He is unaware of the difference between love and lust and simply sets out to satisfy his sexual urges towards Hero, thinking that he is in love with her. Yet Marlowe also suggests that Hero is not innocent when it comes to love and is aware that his ability to manipulate Leander comes from the fact that he lusts after her rather than because he loves her. She “lets” him sleep with her, and it is therefore her fault if, after their sexual intercourse, he looks at her with more pleasure “than Say on piles of gold staring at her” (Marlowe 1021 l. 810) . The truth of Leander's supposed love for Hero is revealed when she stands naked before Leander and he gazes at her body purely out of lust. Leander eventually realized that he was not in love with Hero at all and was only pursuing her for his own sexual desires. He also believes that Hero knew she was manipulating him all along and left her completely naked in his room with no regrets for her actions. Marlowe's Leander has completely put his "natural instincts" into practice while..