Marx Brothers and Mimetic Desire and Love Triangles -- Mimetic Theory and Literary Study

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Date Posted: 05:54:21 05/03/08 Sat
Author: Janelle
Subject: Marx Brothers and Mimetic Desire and Love Triangles

In their movie "Horse Feathers", the Marx Brothers display mimetic desire and, well, a kind of love pentagon, rather than a triangle, which surrounds the character named Connie Bailey. Zeppo, who is Groucho's son in the movie, has been seeing Connie for some time and her reputation is quite well known on the campus of Huxley College (rival of Darwin College, haha!) where Groucho is college president. Before he even meets Connie, Groucho is intrigued and, once he meets her, he begins making advances, regardless of the fact that his son is already involved with her. To make matters even more complicated, Chico and Harpo, who are falsely enrolled as students at Groucho's college, follow Groucho up to Connie's apartment. While it is obvious that Groucho has been attempting to woo Connie, Chico merely squeezes between them on her divan and begins to come on to her more obviously, if that is possible, than Groucho. Even Harpo, who though in all the Marx Brothers movies is girl crazy and constantly flirting never actually attempts to woo any of them, finds himself caught up in the mess and attempts to woo her by playing his harp for her.

A telling sign of the brothers attempts to woo her is the fact that they all use the same song, only different versions, entitled "Everyone says 'I love you'". A sense of competition between Groucho and his son is felt even from the beginning of the movie, they compare college experiences and Groucho expresses his disappointment in Zeppo, "I married your mother because I wanted children. Imagine my disappointment when you arrived." Although Chico pretty much pursues any member of the opposite sex, his desire for Connie is no doubt increased by Groucho's relatively failed efforts to woo her. Harpo is even driven by his brothers to toss his hat in the ring. By the end of the movie, the one character who we believe actually loves/loved Connie, Zeppo, has disappeared and Groucho, Chico, and Harpo have simultaneously married Connie which immediately results in a competition with all of them piling on top of her. The more individuals desire Connie, the more she is irresistible to the brothers and the more competitive they get.

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