Going to Great Lengths for Love "The First Seven Years" Analysis In William Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" the two main characters go to great lengths for love. The main characters reject their parents strong disapproval for their relationship and continue to be with one another. Like Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" Feld, the main character, in Bernard Malamud's "The First Seven Years", ignores and later resents the fact that Sobel, his employee, is in love with …showed first 75 words of 797 total…

…showed last 75 words of 797 total…develop the theme for the reader. Just like Romeo and Juliet in Shakespeare's most famous tragedy, Sobel struggles for several years in order to eventually be with Mariam. Even knowing of Feld's aspirations for Mariam, Sobel continues to share his feelings through the books. By the end of the short story, Feld realizes how far and how much Sobel has sacrificed for his love. In the long run, happiness becomes more important than financial security.