How we cite our quotes: (line)
Quote #4
Why, what could she have done being what she is?
Was there another Troy for her to burn? (lines 11-12)
So these lines are the real kicker from a gender perspective. Is Yeats pinning the Trojan War all on Helen, just because she left her husband Menelaus for a young prince? The poem suggests that a certain kind of attractive and noble femininity also leads to blind and aimless destruction. And a certain kind of woman just goes looking for a city to burn down. What's your take?