1、The Eros in Shakespeares Plays:Its Essence, Consequences and MoreLove is a very important aspect of human life. There are four Greek words for love: storge (the familial love), phileo (friendship), agape (charity) and eros (romance) (Lewis, as cited in Wikipedia, 1960). And this research focuses pri
2、marily on eros between young lovers in Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer-Nights Dream. From the plot in these plays, I will discuss Shakespeares perspective of romantic love and compare it with the modern concepts of love. In my opinion, the Eros depicted by Shake
3、speare is very complex and quite different from what we now consider as true love.From Romeo to Portia, the protagonists seemed to be guided by some immortal power and were immediately attracted just at the first sight of their Mr. or Ms. Right. Romeo, for example, forgot his love for Rosaline, whom
4、 he had been longing for, as soon as he saw Juliets face:Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight!For I neer saw true beauty till this night.( Romeo and Juliet, act 1, scene 5)At the same time, Juliet was intended to fall in love with and marry Paris, and was, in fact, quite restrained. But th
5、at did not seem to have any effect on her. And following that seemed to be the common merrymaking among adolescent boys and girls, although the way Romeo did it was quite bold. But shortly afterwards, Juliet also fell in love irredeemably with Romeo:Go ask his name: if he be married.My grave is like
6、 to be my wedding bed.(Romeo and Juliet, act 1, scene 5)This seemed all too rash, especially for a young lady who was only 14 years old. If Romeos sharp turn in attitude indicated Juliets extraordinary beauty and charm, then Juliets change was beyond explanation, as Romeo was not a charming wooer. A
7、nd Portias falling in love with Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice was even more surprising. Before Bassanio had begun to woo her or even met her, that love fell upon Portia:Come, come, Nerissa; for I long to seeQuick Cupids post that comes so mannerly.(The Merchant of Venice, act 2, scene 7)In fact
8、, Portia seemed to have lost all her wisdom this time, trusting the glittering appearance of a piece of fools gold.When it came to A Midsummer-Nights Dream, Shakespeare simply borrowed a sprite from the legend called Puck in order to arrange some “love-at-one-sight” situations for the young lovers,
9、which was amusing for the audience but probably a little annoying for the young people in the play. Although neither Lysander nor Demetrius fell in love with Helena “at first sight”, the love potion did not take effect until the image of the girl was cast into the mens eyes.However, the problem with
10、 the “love at first sight” is that this love is very likely to be superficial rather than sincere as lovers are not able to get to know each other well, therefore it is more possible to end up in grief or disappointment. For instance, when Juliet found that her husband had killed her cousin, she was
11、 in terrible dilemma:Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband?Ah, poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name,When I, thy three-hours wife, have mangled it?But, wherefore, villain, didst thou kill my cousin?That villain cousin would have killd my husband:Back, foolish tears, back to your nati
12、ve spring;(Romeo and Juliet, act 3, scene 2)On the one hand, she could not speak ill of her lover and was worried about his safety, on the other hand, she was in great pain to had lost her beloved cousin. That love did cause greater misery for the lovers. And as for Portia, she did not know that Bas
13、sanio was very poor until they got married. And whether Bassanio truly loved her is not undoubtable, since it was possible that Bassanio at least partly considered Portias wealth when he decided to try his luck:And from your love I have a warrantyTo unburden all my plots and purposesHow to get clear
14、 of all the debts I owe.O my Antonio, had I but the meansTo hold a rival place with one of them,I have a mind presages me such thrift,That I should questionless be fortunate!(The Merchant of Venice, act 1, scene 1)The consequence of that love was that Portia had to try to insert some control over he
15、r husband by playing the trick to teach him a lesson. Considering that they were just newly-wed, Portia could be a good tamer for the carefree Bassanio in the future. Anyway, the idea of using the three boxes to test who was the true lover was quite a novel one, which I believe no expert on marriage
16、 will sincerely recommend. Although the Greek philosophers did write about “love at first sight”, they also mentioned some cases in which passion occurred after the initial meeting (Wikipedia, 2013). However, Shakespeare seemed to have ignored these situations. Maybe it was not just because he was w
17、ith “small Latine, and lesse Greeke” (Jonson, 1618). The reason lies in many aspects. First of all, the arrangement is of better dramatic effects. Because the lovers in the plays fell in love so quickly, they would inevitably leave something unrevealed, which could in the end be the key of the plot.
18、 Also, there are more twist and turns and conflicts in the kind of plot.Secondly, this might have something to do with the status of women at that time. As we can see from the scripts, women at Shakespeares time were at an inferior status. In Romeo and Juliet, although the old Capulet expressed that
19、 his consent was only part of Juliets choice of love, Lady Capulet still urged her daughter Juliet to obey her parents will. And young Juliet did promise to try:Ill look to like, if looking liking move:But no more deep will I endart mine eyeThan your consent gives strength to make it fly.(Romeo and
20、Juliet, act 1, scene 3)And such lines expressing womens affiliation with their lovers, husbands, or fathers were also found in The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer-Nights Dream. For example, in A Midsummer-Nights Dream, Theseus warned Hermia of rebelling her father, and expressed that she was in t
21、he hand of her father:To you your father should be as a god;One that composed your beauties, yea, and oneTo whom you are but as a form in waxBy him imprinted and within his powerTo leave the figure or disfigure it.(A Midsummer-Nights Dream, act 1, scene 1)It then seems that the choice of young girls
22、 like Juliet, Hermia and Portia was a rebellion towards the male-dominant society. As both Juliets and Hermias marriage were determined by their parents, the young girls might choose their own lovers with haste so that they would at least spend their lives with someone of their own choice. And thoug
23、h Portias parents had already passed away, her destiny was still controlled by her fathers will. For all of them, the way to resist is to choose a lover of their own fast (or at one sight) and break away with her lover as soon as possible.Nonetheless, for most of the young girls who dared not stand
24、against their families, it was better to love whomever they belong to. Therefore they would try or pretend to love whoever came at them. For example, Juliet, before meeting Romeo, tried to “love” Paris “at one sight”, though she eventually fell in love with Romeo:Ill look to like, if looking liking
25、move:But no more deep will I endart mine eyeThan your consent gives strength to make it fly. (Romeo and Juliet, act 1, scene 3)For mens part, men did not have to sacrifice as much as women did in one relationship when men were superior. Therefore Romeo could woo the girl he preferred at first sight
26、without much consideration, and Lysander could change his mind easily.However, I have pictured too solemn a picture of the love mentioned. In fact, we can hardly deny the faith of Romeo and Juliet, and the love between Lysander and Hermia seemed to grow mature after all the obstacles. I think, this
27、love is also true love, because lovers overcome difficulties in the pursuit of love. And this love lies in the human mind.So the third reason is that this kind of love is always part of human affection. Such clich of falling in love at first sight and remaining in love forever despite all obstacles
28、also appeared in modern literatures. Zweigs Letter From An Unknown Women also depicts the psychology of all Juliets and Helenas of all time. And Durass Hiroshima mon amour reminds me of Romeo and Juliet in that the female protagonist in the movie also fell in love with one of the enemies of her nati
29、on. It seems always attractive to love someone of alien characters, for instance the foes whom one has known little (May. 1969). The point is simple: the inclination to be irrational always exists. And that might be the basic view of love by Shakespeare.However, the rational modern concept of love f
30、ocuses more on the mutual trust and respect side, which is probably due to the emphasis on equality. Erich Fromm (1956) “presented love as a skill that can be taught and developed, and rejected the idea of loving as something mysterious.” He argued in The Art of Loving that the active character of t
31、rue love involves four elements: care, responsibility, respect, and knowledge (1956, p.24). It can be concluded that the rational modern concept and the perspective held by Shakespeare both have their strength and weakness. The rational one has realized the importance of respect, which is hard for p
32、eople of Shakespeares time to realize because of the fact of womens being inferior at that time. But Shakespeare did perceive the subtle aspect of love, which was interpreted by ancient Greek and Medieval European literature as some divine power. In a word, love is difficult to perceive and understa
33、nd unless one has been through it on his or her own.Reference1Duras, M. (2010).广岛之恋.(L.D. Tan, trans.).上海：上海译文出版社.(Original work published 1960)2Eros(concept).(2013, May 31). Retrieved Jul. 27,2013, from http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eros_(concept)3Jonson, B. (2013, Jul. 15). To the Memory of My Belov
34、ed, the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare, line 31. Retrieved Jul. 28,2013, from http:/en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ben_Jonson#To_the_Memory_of_My_Beloved.2C_the_Author.2C_Mr._William_Shakespeare_.281618.294May, R.(1969). Love and Will. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.5Shakespeare, W.(1866). A Midsummer-Nig
35、hts Dream . The Globe Edition. Cambridge: MacMillan and Co.6Shakespeare, W.(1866). Romeo and Juliet . The Globe Edition. Cambridge: MacMillan and Co.7Shakespeare, W.(1866). The merchant of Venice. The Globe Edition. Cambridge: MacMillan and Co.8The Art of Loving.(2013, Jul. 22).Retrieved Jul. 28,2013, from http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Loving9The Four Loves.(2013, Jul. 21).Retrieved Jul. 27,2013, from http:/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Loves10Zweig, S. (2006).一个陌生女人的来信. 斯茨威格中短篇小说选（S.Y. Zhang, trans.).北京：人民文学出版社.(Original work published 1922)
