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Shakespeare and Romantic Love
Clearly one of the most influential writers in the English language that has survived and prospered in contemporary times is William Shakespeare. Despite some of the controversy of whether he actual wrote what is attributed to him, or the other theories of the origination of his writing, no one can deny that he holds a place in literature that few, if any, have attained. The classic stories and phrases of Shakespeare permeate contemporary society -- young love epitomized by Romeo and Juliet, treachery and false betrayal in Othello, and even the way the universe and nature conspire against the human condition in The Tempest. To begin to understand Shakespeare, though, it is first necessary to have a basic understanding of his time period -- Elizabethan England (roughly 1558-1603). Also called the "Golden Age" in English history, this time period was the height of the English Renaissance and English poetry, literature, and theater. The importance of this time period comes due to its many contrasts, however, and although one looks back at it as a relatively calm period, it was filled with intrigue, concern about invasion, court issues, religious war and strife. Clearly, though, one of the major themes that pervades much of Elizabethan literature is the contrast within the human psyche that...
Romance, in the sense of courtly love, reality in the sense of the tawdry life of most people, fate and free will as human choice, and insanity or psychosis as creative entertainment or an expression of the times.
It was in his poetry, though, that Shakespeare seemed to focus more clearly upon romantic love -- the courtly effervescence that holds the love of the soul and heart above the physical need. Courtly love, for instance, was seen as one of the highest forms of art, but the humanity and sometimes not so covert sexuality moved through much of the literature, disguised at times to pass the muster of the censors and other prim and proper government servants, but nevertheless clear enough for the contrast to emerge.
Love to Shakespeare is pure, it is courtly, and it is the highest calling for humans, "Let me not to the marriage of true minds…. Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds" (1). And yet, despite the regaling of the feminine, love is never common, in fact, it is quite rare, "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she belied with false compare" (2). And yet, it also seems that Shakespeare, while acknowledging that love blooms ever…
REFERENCES
1. Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds
2. My Mistress' Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun
3. O Mistress Mine
4. Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?
“One is not born but rather becomes a woman.” This famous statement by the French existential feminist Simone de Beauvoir highlights the fact that gender, as opposed to physical sex, is something into which someone is socialized, not which exists as a universal construct (Butler, 1988, p. 519). The 20th century feminist theorist Judith Butler took De Beauvoir’s thesis one step further to argue that gender is a performance not
Most Elizabethans believed their self-identity was wrapped up in a cosmic paradigm of fate and destiny, and were somehow controlled by the stars and planets and had a power over the baser side of man -- tools of God, but with certain amounts of free will. Thus, a very central idea in Shakespeare is this central view that an individual's identity is set by God, the Planets, the Universe, the
“The Chrysanthemums” and “The Lady with the Pet Dog” Both Steinbeck and Chekhov offer realistic depictions of love and unhappiness in their respective stories. Chekhov paints a vivid picture of two unhappy people, each married to someone neither loves. They meet at a resort away from home and casually fall in love with one another. However, the reason they are able to fall in love so easily on this resort is
Shakespeare Journal 9/14 Sonnets (1. I usually have to force myself to read poetry, especially sonnets about romance that seem contrived or sentimentalized. Also, I am not very good at understanding and explaining the various metaphors, hidden meanings and so on. Sonnet 18 is so famous that it has long since turned into a cliche ("Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?") and would simply not go over very well is
Love Poem John Frederick Nims and "Love Poem" John Frederick Nims was a poet who was both prolific (he published eight books of poetry (Famous Poets)) and well-regarded (earned such awards as the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature (Famous Poets)). The amount of poetry and the awards one receives are not marks of greatness alone, but the quality of the poetry is. Of course, one might assume that
Shakespeare Iago's Character in Othello This paper analyzes Iago's speech to Roderigo in "Othello," by William Shakespeare. Specifically, it discusses what the speech reveals about Iago's character. Does the play ultimately seem to suggest that Iago is right? Iago is a tortured character who displays many different and unhealthy psychological traits. He ruins the lives of those around him, and the play clearly shows he is a jealous, unhappy, and scheming man who