The characters in the play are described as the beast with two backs.
beast with two backs
idiomTwo people united in sexual intercourse in the missionary position.
Origin
first recorded 16th c. disputed originFirst attested in English by William Shakespeare, see quotations. Supposedly a calque of French la beste à deux doz (in modern French, la bête à deux dos) from Gargantua and Pantagruel, 1534, by François Rabelais.
The writer used the phrase the beast with two backs to describe the lovers in a poetic and old-fashioned way.
In his classic tragedy, the playwright uses the crude image of the beast with two backs to provoke the audience and express his characters' deep anger.
- 01
eat for two
To be pregnant
- 02
fall between two stools
To fit into neither of two categories and, hence, be neglected or fail.
- 03
feed two birds with one scone
Synonym of kill two birds with one stone.
- 04
for two pins
Readily, with only the slightest encouragement.
- 05
greater of two evils
The most harmful or unpleasant of two undesirable alternatives.
- 06
hit two targets with one arrow
Synonym of kill two birds with one stone.
- 07
it takes two to make a quarrel
It takes two or more people to cause a quarrel; one cannot blame an argument entirely on the other side.
- 08
it takes two to tango
Some things need the active cooperation of two parties; blame is to be laid on both parties in a conflict.