Mindsets In The Reading Of Shakespeare: Views Of Love

Mindsets in the Reading of Shakespeare: Views of Love “All the world’s a stage, / and all the men and women merely players;” (As You Like It. Act II. Scene 7.) Shakespeare’s words, spoken by Jaques, have been quoted countless times. I think it’s because that quote, like many excerpts form Shakespeare’s works, can be taken and interpreted in a variety of different ways and applied to so many different situations, depending on the reader. Over the course of this class, I have begun to recognize the significance and eternal relevance of Shakespeare’s works. I have learned how one can connect with a character and plotline, and placed myself in the character’s shoes. I have read and learned about different types of love that are explored in Shakespeare’s

When we as a culture think of Shakespearean love, the famous Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet comes to mind; however, in studying the different views on love we also have to include As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and others. As told by Leggatt, in Shakespeare’s Comedy of Love, Rosalind and Orlando, from Shakespeare’s As You Like It, “fall in love at first sight; in the prescribed manner.” By “in the prescribed manner” he is referring to the idea of Petrarchan love that we also see when Romeo falls in love with Juliet at first sight. The idea of Petrarchan love comes from Francesco Petrarch’s love poems to a lady named Laura whom he only met once. According to Maurice Charney, this Petrarchan love “enters through the eyes and it is spontaneous, irresistible, and absolute.” Like Charney, I feel Shakespeare experiments with this type of love, for instance in Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and As You Like It.

Although the situation is unusual due to the gender flip disguise, one is able to connect with and understand Rosalind in a way that transcends time. In Act IV, scene 1, Orlando enters an hour late for his “love lesson” and Rosalind refuses to grant him forgiveness when he asks, which prods Celia to inform her that she has badly represented the female sex. While on the surface Celia’s observation may seem valid, I believe Rosalind was only trying to be candid with Orlando, in letting him know her realistic view on love and how it differed from his. I believe she was also partially looking out for her own benefit, knowing that if their views on love were all too different it wouldn’t end well for either of them. She saw the opportunity to groom her lover without him knowing it was her who was trying to improve him. She was beginning to see a waning in his affections as they were shown by his actions, while he still exaggeratedly spoke of his love for her, even saying that he would die if Rosalind should fail to return his love. This is a common theme in the idea of Petrarchan love, which is characterized by a lover having a flu if his love is not returned. Rosalind is the one who sheds some light on the ridiculousness of this love. She begins to make some very valid points about love,