Love is a feeling of strong or constant affection for a person. However, what is known to be romantic love cannot be universal, natural, or essential because it is socially constructed, and we know this because it has been established differently in various societies. Earlier in time, the idea of romantic love was manifested through literature, such as poems, plays, and sonnets. In today’s century, the way romantic love was expressed back then has evolved and is expressed through the use of music, songs, movies, and books. Romantic love in Shakespeare’s sonnets reveals multiple meanings of what modern love was during that century, in comparison to what love is in today’s century. In various sonnets, you see what the different kinds of love people felt and what his version of modern love was. As evident in Shakespeare’s sonnets, romantic love in the 17th century had a different social construct and connotation than romantic love in the 21st century.
Shakespeare has notoriously utilized works to express his thoughts on affection. Be that as it may, he doesn’t prevent some other perspectives from claiming love, yet rather demands a specific norm for affection: love is rigid and crucial to suffer life, his statement choice proposes love is significantly more than physical wants. On the other hand, Shakespeare depicts love as perfect and necessary from the beginning to the end of his sonnets. Each of the sonnets mirrors his feelings of encounters with the duality of his affection. Love is something that does not change when it finds a modification in the object of its affection.Love has evolved from being a predetermined choice to a self-made decision. Initially, love was not a choice you were able to make. According to an article by Maggie Secara “Life in Elizabethan England,” in the 1500s marriages were arranged by your parents, and they would set you up with neighbors and friends. Half of the time it was really rare for you to be with someone you liked, however the lower on the social scale you are, the more likely you are to have a choice in the matter. It was generally considered foolish to marry for love, although love may have occurred in various marriages.
Moreover, as mentioned before love in the Shakespearean time period was very different. However, after reading some of Shakespeare’s sonnets I have seen the variety of ways love was expressed through literature, in this case, his sonnets. In Sonnet 91, Shakespeare uses the metaphor “Thy love is better than high birth to me”. He utilizes this excerpt in order to reveal the affection for his soul is the being that raises him over all others, it is far better than high birth and riches. As well as suggesting a social analysis about the thought of what is really important in this world. Likewise, Shakespeare also uses the repetition (anaphora) of “Some in their…. He is constantly using this phrase for the purpose of listing out examples of characteristics that provide men with status: birth, skill, wealth and possessions are all mentioned as bestowing upon some men glory. Yet, the love of the beloved makes the speaker feel as if he is envied by all men, no matter what their birth or how wealthy or what possessions they have.Furthermore, continuing with Shakespeare’s sonnets, in his sonnets 116 and 130 Shakespeare can give an extraordinary view upon how he characterizes love, he portrays the regularly suffering nature of genuine romance. Through the mix of these two pieces, Shakespeare gives an anticipated picture of what love should take after. This demonstrates that there can be very different importance with regards to sentimental love, yet Shakespeare was sufficiently smart to truly focus the incredible conceivable outcomes that originate from such compelling feelings and includes them using words, for example, his pieces. In sonnet 18, Shakespeare phrases “Shall I compare thee…”. Shakespeare uses this phrase to unveil the everlasting statuses through his utilization of words. Shakespeare is for all intents and purposes endeavoring to demonstrate some things to the overall population of that time, an activity that is so far noteworthy today. Shakespeare’s sonnet praises love and speak of love in its most ideal form.
Foremost, moving forward to how love is viewed in today’s society, love is a choice as well as an act of will. Romantic love enables us to recognize our inconsistencies inside associations and to love the person when we have to lash out or pull back. Love in the present or yesterday society has been the equivalent, the primary qualification is the societal characteristics towards it have progressed. In the event that you think love just happens once, you can fall all through adoration any number of times. Romantic love is not a sustainable thing; it is an emotion so it can be perceived in many different ways. In comparison, to how love was expressed through the use of literature, in today’s century, love is expressed through the use of music, in this case, lyrics in songs. In the song Can’t help falling in love, Elvis says, “Take my hand, Take my whole life too, For I can’t help falling in love with you.” Elvis is surrendering to the inevitability of falling in love with this woman and choosing to give up his whole life for her, revealing that love can be seen to make you do and say crazy things.
In continuation, because the feeling of love is vulnerable the creation of songs helps us as people create a connection with each other. This helps the person feel safe and comfortable with one another, as well as, help build a romantic relationship. In the song Make you feel my love, Adele says, “I could hold you for a million years to make you feel my love.” Adele is clearly feeling strong emotions for this person and really believes things could work out, however, with no communication, there isn’t any progress towards building a relationship. She also feels as if she could really make him happy as long as he is feeling what she is. Expressing your love and appreciation is so much more than that. It shows your partner that you are actively and consistently thinking about them. That even the small, seemingly insignificant actions they take are not going unnoticed.
In addition, the theme of love is a very complex topic, love has it’s different meanings in each individual, resulting to be shown in a variety of ways. Pieces of work often tend to follow either a society’s typical understanding of love or seek to teach the audience or reader a new way of thinking about love. The desire for love is essential to the human experience, love is a major theme or at least a supporting undercurrent of most literature and art. To continue with more of Shakespeare’s sonnets he continuously mentions what love is not; love never stops, changes, or dies. In sonnet 116, Shakespeare utilizes repetition (anaphora) when he states, “remover to remove”. Shakespeare claims that even when someone tries to remove the feeling of affection, real love doesn’t give in and disappear. When facing difficulties and adversity, love will always survive. In the second quatrain, the speaker sets out what love is through a metaphor: a guiding star to lost ships “wand’ring barks” that is not susceptible to storms it “looks on tempests and is never shaken”. Shakespeare compares genuine romance to a far off star, particularly (maybe) the North Star, which is very impressive in its situation over the world (as intimate romance rises above all simply common things) and which, similar to the milestone previously referenced, can be utilized to enable us to explore and discover our courses through life.On the contrary, during the 17th century, it was considered foolish to marry for love, although love may occur in marriage. Your parents and friends are better prepared than you are to pay special mind to your best advantages, being an adult and experienced in the world. Letting them negotiate and organize your marriage might be a better option to likely put you in a happy marriage. Marriage is organized it doesn’t mean you have never met the other individual. Aside from among being over-ambitious, the vast majority organize their youngsters’ with the children of neighbors and companions. While the setting up of marriages still goes on in today’s century and parents believe its the right thing to do, I believe that this affects the children in a variety of ways especially when it comes to romantic love. This is effective because the feeling of having strong romantic emotions towards someone makes the individual feel as if they have no choice in this state of matter. As well as, make them feel like they will never be involved in a relationship where their feelings towards another individual are real, how other people in today’s century feel towards another person.
The idea of romantic love is different in the 17th century, then in today’s century has its different factors and that is how it was expressed by an individual. The idea of sonnets was a creative piece of work that showed the various point of views of an individual towards romantic love. Whereas in today’s century the idea of lyrics in a song is a creative way to send a message towards your loved one, as well as, really trying to connect with them emotionally through romantic love.
