The Course of True Love Never Should Run Smooth

Paper Summary:

Using Shakespeare?s thoughts and feelings regarding love expressed in the 116 Sonnet, this paper analyzes the love relationships in "Much Ado About Nothing". The play paints a clear picture of the thoughts and opinions Shakespeare expresses in the sonnet. When a reader compares the foil love relationships of Benedick and Beatrice to that of Hero and Claudio, Shakespeare?s meaning of a love that doesn?t ?alter when it alteration finds? can be truly appreciated. This paper is filled with many textual examples of ways that Claudio and Hero both fail to build the kind of love that Shakespeare admonishes lovers to have. It also examines the inconvenience and pain of Benedick and Beatrice?s love, which at times seems to be ?against their will?.

From the Paper:

"Here [quote from Sonnet 116] Shakespeare express his feelings about true love and the elements that need to be included in a loving relationship. Love should not be a mere infatuation that is easy to overcome, but rather a long-lasting relationship that can never be broken. This was not a conventional idea in Shakespeare's time, where the woman's dowry, not her love, was the prize most sought by suitors. Shakespeare gives a wonderful example of what he thinks true love should be in Much Ado About Nothing in Benedick and Beatrice's relationship. In the play, he also offers a relationship foil to Benedick and Beatrice, that of Claudio and Hero. This foil compares the traits Shakespeare feels need to be included in true love with the conventional ideas about love of his day."

More papers on The Course of True Love Never Should Run Smooth:

• Essay # 138123 : "Structuralism and the Semiotics of Love in Shakespeare’s “Let me not to the marriage of true minds”"
• Book Review # 118422 : "The Art of Biz-Love Among Biz-Mates"
• Book Review # 128013 : "Eliza in "The Cult of True Womanhood"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: