During the Renaissance the population began to make use of literature. This is because publications of classical texts began to be published throughout Europe. With the arrival of stoicism, emotions such as fear, envy or passionate love began to take shape in literary works. The genre that had the most acclaim was comedy. In contrast to tragedy, comedy deals with fewer socially elevated characters, the public is exposed to crisis of love, money and ownership. On the other hand, we find the poetry of the Renaissance, which was influenced by Petrarchan poetics. This type of poetry had as a reference love. The sonnet was used as a vehicle of love, but a love that was impossible. The lover admires the sublime qualities of his lover with the conventions used by Petrarch. In contrast to this, the lady is the object and image of love, the manifestation of physical beauty. The legacy of courtly love conventions was still very much alive for poets in the 16th century.
Secondly, one of the most prominent writers of the Renaissance was William Shakespeare. William Shakespeare’s tragedies were very famous and acclaimed by the people. Normally these tragedies used to have revenge, love and political status as the predominant themes. Afterwards, I will discuss two works by William Shakespeare that deal with the theme of love, ‘Hamlet’ and ‘King Lear’.
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First of all, ‘Hamlet’ was written in 1609. Desire and love are predominant themes throughout the plot. Hamlet has a love relationship with the character of Ophelia, but the interference of the two families destroys the courtship. Ophelia's father, Polonio, tries throughout the play to manipulate his daughter by suggesting that she is not worthy of the title of Hamlet. Finally, the destruction of Ophelia and Hamlet's romance is because Polonius' effort to keep them apart. Despite this breakup, their relationship begins with pure love. On the contrary, towards the end of the work we can see the difference between Ophelia and Hamlet. He is selfish and a proof of this is that it seems that he wanted Ophelia only as a sexual object. With Ophelia's death or suicide, it can be seen that Hamlet does not feel any kind of pity, since the only character that seems to suffer his death is Gertrude, Hamlet's mother.
Secondly, another play by Shakespeare that deals with the theme of love is ‘King Lear’, written in 1606. In this play, true love is the central theme. True love and loyalty are opposed to selfish love and betrayal. ‘King Lear’ states that pure and selfless love cannot be measured, but it has a healing power. Through the characters of Lear and Gloucester we can see the difference between the false love of their treacherous children and the true and absolute love. While the characters of Cordelia, Kent and Edgar represent true love, they are misjudged, mistreated, but they do everything in order to help their loved ones. On the contrary, the characters Goneril, Regan and Edmund, represent a selfish and corrupt love.
Thirdly, we find the works of John Ford and Aprha Behn. To start with, the work of John Ford, entitled ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore’ was written in the year 1630. This work deals with the theme of love from different points of view. The main theme of the play is incest. In the first place, the author presents incest as an unstoppable force, although it is against nature. Some of the characters show disapproval and horror at the relationship between the siblings, Anabella and Giovanni. Due to the impossibility of her love, Anabella decides to marry someone who can elevate her position in society. Finally, the work presents different types of love. First, the incestuous and forbidden love between Giovanni and Anabella. This type of love can be compared to Romeo and Juliet’s. What is more, we have the adulterous love between Soranzo and Hippolita. The passions of love in this work lead to disaster.
Finally, the work ‘The Rover’ written by Aphra Behn in the year 1677, deals with the themes of love and lust. The characters in this play constantly try to distinguish whether they feel love or lust. The line to differentiate these two emotions is very unclear. The male character, Willmore, uses this fact for his own benefit, promising love when he really only wants lust. On the contrary, we have Angellica Bianca, a prostitute who is a victim of society and her profession. Furthermore, she is represented as an independent woman who is fully capable of making her way in a world created and governed by men. The power of this female character loses strength when she decides to give her love to Willmore, since he deceives her. Because of this deception, Angellica Bianca decides to take revenge and begins to act, letting herself be carried away by her emotions, losing her independence along the way.
In conclusion, it would be important for me to emphasize that most works dealing with love carry treason, usually on the part of the male lover. This fact usually leads the beloved to despair and in some cases to a tragic end. This last piece of information can be reflected in the well-known tragic work, ‘Romeo and Juliet’. On the other hand, the theme of love is purer in Petrarch's poetry since the beloved praised the qualities and beauty of the beloved, but it is not contemplated that there was any type of betrayal or tragic ending. Finally, all these works deal as well making a critic of society and to the patriarchy, since the female character is always the one who suffers the most and, in some cases, they are the ones with a tragic ending.
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