Do you think love gives people the feeling of flying above the clouds or can one crash to the ground while above these clouds? Is love something that lovers cannot see the faults of each other with the magic it creates or is it a phenomenon where faults are accepted? Is it a process that blinds people or opens their eyes to accept reality? When it comes to love and romance, these questions have led to differences of opinion among writers and various interpretations of love. Shakespeare, who was one of the biggest contributors to this theme, breathed new life into love, unlike his contemporaries of the Elizabethan era who idealized love.
For instance, when the subject is idealized love, whether, in songs, movies or everyday conversations, most people think of Romeo and Juliet, which subjects one of the best love scenarios. However, in Romeo and Juliet, love can be linked to not only romance but also violence, society, morality, and other obstacles. In the beginning, the play represents love in a euphoric romance while it turns into something dangerous and lethal over the play. During the tragedy, it gets so intense and rebellious that even the lovers confront their families which are Capulet and Montague. After a point, they isolate themselves from morality, society, and values that are seen as obstacles to their happiness. However, they ignore the fact that this strong, yet dangerous phenomenon makes them prisoners of their feelings instead of liberating them, causing even lovers to contradict with each other. Also, in the play, love is depicted in a religious, violent, enchanting, and chaotic way that leads to their suicide. Nevertheless, we should keep in mind that their death is also a strong depiction of love since it indicates that they even risk death, which contrasts with what they see as obstacles: religion, morality, and the Capulet and Montague families’ values. In short, though it is represented as an idealized love at first, it turns into something lethal and tragic for Romeo and Juliet in the end.
When it comes to his sonnets, Shakespeare puts us in a love triangle and presents us with the speaker so that we can see the love between the characters with his own eyes and feel his feelings. This eternal triangle includes the love between the dark lady and the speaker, the dark lady and the young man, and the young man and the speaker. In some sonnets, the speaker talks about his concerns that the young man does nothing to pass on his beauty to the next generations, both to complete a beauty's mission and to immortalize his beauty. While in other sonnets, the speaker mentions the traces left by the young man and the dark lady's affair on him and accuses the young man of hiding behind his beauty to hide his immoral acts. Also, the speaker defines falling in love as a miserable state in which one can fall and likens love to a venereal disease that destroys one. Furthermore, the speaker gives examples of the unidealized love between him and the dark lady by stating that the source of his love for her is not the beauty of the dark lady, but the way the speaker looks at her with eyes full of love and sees her beautiful. Moreover, he exemplifies how inappropriate the dark lady is considered by society's perceptions of beauty and morals. In sum, while the speaker idealizes his love for the beautiful young man and witnesses his immoral acts, which stains his beauty, the speaker reviles against the dark lady for their affair. Meanwhile, Shakespeare presents us with an unidealized love that is full of lust and non-cliché beauty, unlike his contemporaries.
On the one hand, we cannot see any kind of love between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth rather than their ambition for power. She even manipulates Macbeth by questioning his manhood and courage to kill King Duncan while forcing him to prove himself as a “real” man. In this case, it can be said that she uses her marriage as a tool for manipulation to be queen.
On the other hand, in Hamlet, we can see a love drowned in the madness of pain brought on by the loss of Hamlet and Ophelia’s fathers, King Hamlet and Polonius. Hamlet was a nobleman, who was once in love with beautiful Ophelia before he loses his father, but his father's death plunges him into a vengeance that leaves him between madness and genius. While revenge takes control, it leaves little room for Ophelia’s love in Hamlet's inner world. It is still questioned whether Hamlet uses his wisdom by pretending to be mad to get revenge on his uncle who murders his father, or he really goes mad for this revenge. Also, it is still questioned whether Hamlet tricks the king and Ophelia's father Polonius into not suspecting him when he says he doesn't love Ophelia anymore, or his love for Ophelia burns in the fire of revenge. These inconsistent actions may be the work of madness or a genius mind disguised as madness. Apart from these questions, Shakespeare reminds us of the real question in Hamlet's poetic words “To be or not to be” (3.1.57).
To summarize, contrary to his contemporaries, Shakespeare does not idealize love by handling it in all its perfection rather he shows the dark and imperfect aspects of people and reflects its real-life situation. He captures love in its real form, like a nature photographer, and accepts it with all its imperfections while portraying it in its natural state in his lines.
This article gives me a new perspective. Most of us never realise how realistic love can be in Shakespeare's work. Realistic in a painful, dramatic way.
Great work!