1005 班 20100100122The English poetry course12/25/2012TitleTrue Love is Eternal- the analysis of Shakespeares idea about the relationship between love and timeOutlineThis essay is going to talk about the relationship between love and time from the perspective of Shakespeares love sonnets. Some issues will be covered in the essay such as whats the true love, does it change with time and so on and I divided my essay into parts. Part one argues the prejudice out of criticizes to point out Shakespeares attitude towards love and time. Part two goes on the issue further then draw the conclusion.True Love is Eternal- The analysis of Shakespeares idea about the relationship between love and time1005 班 20100100122The English poetry course12/25/2012Love, as one of the noblest emotion of human beings, is a favorable theme in literature, which has a great influence on peoples daily life and in turn peoples life is influenced by their view of love. Shakespeare, in virtue of drama and poetry, uncovered the nature of love for his readers and audiences using artistic method. Given the historical background, Shakespeares view about love goes against asceticism in the middle Ages because of the Renaissance in Europe. At that time, humanism is dominant, under the thought of which, people are encouraged to seek after their rights including freedom, equality, the desire of love and so on and so forth. For this reason, many works of Shakespeare describe mens pursuit of love and desire. Thus, inevitably parts of his works involve sexual wordplay. “In its time this rich vein of sexual wordplay was just one of the plays selling points - indeed younger writers like Thomas Middleton and John Marston might be considered even dirtier.But in the 18th century, editors and commentators began to take arms against this sea of innuendo, striving to play down its importance, and in the case of Thomas and Henrietta Bowler, whose Family Shakespeare appeared in 1820, to expunge it entirely. Nowadays we are free once more to relish it, and many important studies of Shakespeares sexual discourse have been published. Stanley Welss Shakespeare, Sex, and Love are a characteristically crisp and knowledgeable survey of the subject by one of the doyens of contemporary Shakespeare studies. As his title suggests, the sexed-up language is only one aspect of Shakespeares treatment of sex, and the sexual only one aspect of his more philosophical treatment of love. It is perhaps no accident that his most famous and romantic love-story, Romeo and Juliet, has one of the highest counts of bawdy doubles intruders in the canon. 1It seems that Shakespeare was depicted as a dirty man who knows nothing about love. Is that true? Absolutely not. Shakespeares best known description of love is “ love looks not with eyes, but with the mind.” Only this kind of love which looks with mind rather than eyes can go through in times wear and justifies. In fact, in his eyes, love is sweet, heavenly, eternal and everlasting. That is to say, he believes that true love does exist in the world and it wont change as time goes by. Next, I would like to take his great masterpiece Sonnet 116 as an example to analyze that.“Sonnet 116, first published in 1609, is one of his most romantic pieces as well as one of his most profound works. It is sometimes quoted at weddings. This poem is often interpreted as an expression of Shakespeares view of true love, which never alters with the passage of time.” 2“Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments.” The first sentence is imperative and meditative, which is also thought provoking: why does the poet think so? Is it the truth? Immediately the poet gives his answer: “Love is not love which alters when it finds, or bends with the remover to remove:” from which the poet explicitly imparts the definition of true love, which is true love doesnt change with time Subsequently, he use metaphor as the rhetoric technique to show us the characteristics of true love “ O, no, it is an ever- fixed mark, that looks on tempests and is never shaken; it is the star to every wandering bark, whose worths unknown, although his height be taken. ” “An ever-fixed mark” demonstrates that true love is eternal. “It is the star to every wandering bark” shows how soothing and encouraging the true love is and it is like the star that shines giving directions for the lost boats. Apparently, the poet talks about the significance of true love to the “wandering bark”. As a matter of fact, his emphasis is human beings- true love is of very importance, without which, one might get lost or even died on the way. “Loves not Times fool” pours out his heart: “true love never alters with the passage of time”. Noticeably, through “though rosy lips and cheeks within his bending sickles compass come; Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out even to the edge of doom”, we can imagine the poets loyal to true love. Even though the beautiful appearance becomes less attractive as time passes by, still, he loves his lover. It does not only generalize Shakespeares idea about the relationship between love and time. In particular, “doom” and “edge denoting death, the end of life illustrate true love is eternal. The last sentence “If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.” again shows the strong belief and assurance of true love. All in all, Shakespeares view point of the relationship between love and time is obvious: true love is eternal and this concept is deep rooted in his mi