Shakespearean Love

Comparison Essay # 4598

English > Comparison
Literature > English
Literature > Poetry

Shakespearean Love

Explores the different types of love Shakespeare wrote about in Sonnets 116, 130, and 138.

1,280 words () | 3 sources | MLA | 2000 United States

Paper Summary:

The essay explains the different aspects of romantic love through an explication of Sonnets 116, 130 and 138. According to the author, the three types of love are, respectively, real love, ideal love, and lying love. The poems emphasize different aspects of love, but all three kinds are required for love to stand the test of time.

From the Paper:

"In Sonnet 116, Shakespeare makes several claims about ideal love. As described in this poem, ideal love is permanent. If someone is truly in love with another, his love will never end. Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,/ But bears it out even to the edge of doom (ln. 10-11). This love, according to Shakespeare will never wither away or be broken down by any obstacle (ln. 6). Nothing can stand in the way of this feeling, true and strong. Ideal love will also never change, even as the possessors do. As they change, they will still love each other just as strongly, or even more so (ln. 2-3). This is the most important and most difficult aspect of reaching ideal love. Though many believe they have achieved it, they fall short as they come to realize that as they learn more about each other, they drift apart."