Organization
Abstract
The world of literature encompasses numerous feelings and emotions in its wide array of literary works. As readers, we are not unknown to use of centralized themes in the works of literature which vary according to many factors, like the type of work, the author and the plot of the work. In this paper we will compare a few renowned works of literature based on their usage of the central theme of love. This paper will be an analysis of the concept of theme which can be found in both prose and poetry. For our reference, we have taken the aid of our textbooks and various other scholarly articles that will be cited accordingly. For the comparison of literary works, we have included a play, “A Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen, a poem, “To My Dear and Loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet and a sonnet, “That Time of Year” by William Shakespeare. We will discuss these three works, which belong to different genres of literature, based on the concept of love which is depicted in them.
Thesis Statement: This paper is an analysis of the central theme of love, used in various ways, in different works of literature. This paper depicts the multiple facets of the universal feeling of “love” and its effects and consequences.
A Doll’s House: a Synopsis on the Portrayal of Love
“A Doll’s House” is a play which depicts various stages and formations of love. The Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen has used the general concept of a marital relationship in order to portray the origin and consequences, and consequentially, the demise of unconditional love. In the play, the female protagonist, Nora Helmer, is shown as an entrapped wife who feels that life, and her marriage, is the least bit satisfactory at the given time [Bradford]. Her grief is further enhanced by the feeling of guilt which arose due to a criminal act that she had committed in the past. She is deeply aggravated by the thought of her crime being exposed in front of her husband, who she truly adores, despite the lost charm of her marital bond. Her love for him prevents her to give in to the romantic pursuits of her friend, Dr. Rank, and the vicious pretences of their seemingly common foe, Mr. Nils Krogstad.
Even though Mr. Krogstad makes his intentions very clear to Nora, that if she fails to persuade her husband to secure his job, he would expose her crime and let her husband and the police know everything about the unjust act that she had committed. As much as Nora fears the reaction of her husband in knowing the truth, which would apparently not be a pleasant one, she is more concerned about her husband taking the blame for all her acts and suffering a parole on her behalf. As a wife, Nora is not unaware of the loss of interest her husband has towards her, which is quite evident in his seemingly sweet but disrespectful way in which he addresses her. Yet she is under the illusion that she has married a loving and caring man who means a lot to her. It is only in the last act of the play that Nora realizes that the love that she so protected for a long time had ceased to exist after all. She is enlightened about the failing marriage and her own contribution in trying to erect a monument which never had a firm foundation. This is the part where the playwright plays with the concept of love and depicts this particular emotion from a different facet altogether.
Unlike other plays, which uses a central theme of love, “A Doll’s House” is not the one where love triumphs in order to make its significance felt. On the contrary, the demise of true love makes the audience realize how important it is to love someone unconditionally, to forgive them and accept them in all their goodness and evil. At the end of the play, when Nora walks away, her husband, Torvald Helmer, is left alone pondering over his ill fate. He grieves that fact that his actions have led to his “caged song bird” to reach out for the free skies and leave him alone in his misery.
This play is one of the perfect examples of love won and love lost which is quite a common occurrence in everybody’s life.
In the poem “To My Dear and Loving Husband”, the poetess, Anne Bradstreet, has professed insurmountable love for her husband. This romantic poem is far beyond the level of human emotions with which we acquaint ourselves in our mortal life. The poetess reaches out to eternity when she says “That when we live no more we may live ever.” [“To My Dear and Loving Husband- Poets.org- Poetry, Poems, Bios and More”] The poetess claims that the love of her husband is more lucrative than the “mines of gold” and her insatiable love for him is so massive that “rivers cannot quench” her emotions.
Much has been said about love profound, many a person has claimed to be the witness of unconditional love and this is what the poetess relates herself to. It would not be incorrect to state that the concept of love in this poem is not only centrifugal but encompasses the entire work with its presence from the beginning of the poem till the very end. The usage of words like “heavens reward thee manifold” portrays the depth of the emotions which the poetess feels for her husband when she prays to the celestial entities to shower their blessings on the subject of her love. She also considers her love is of such magnitude that it is capable of uniting two bodies into one soul. She proceeds to not only profess her happiness but also challenge any other woman in the world to be at par with what she feels. [An Analysis of Anne Bradstreet’s Poem]
This piece of literary work can be considered as a perfect example of the existence and significance of true love, one that is not tarnished by selfish motives and not obliterated by egoistic pursuits. The poetess has broken all the shackles of gender by portraying that it is not only a woman who is capable of endowing such a tremendous amount of love to a man but it is also possible for a man to love his wife to such an extent that she feels truly blessed and content in the presence of his emotions.
Unlike the previous work that we have discussed, which also portrays various shades of love, this poem is the epitome of undying and unfailing love that one individual can bestow on another for a lifetime and beyond.
That Time of Year: Love Defined in the Work
Sonnet 73, “That Time of Year” is a romantic sonnet by William Shakespeare, is not to be considered as a conventional love poem owing to its diversity of meaning and the usage of metaphors. In this piece of work, Shakespeare makes it known to his lover the expanse of his love but also underlines the futility of its eternity when he proclaims that he is soon to be engulfed by the tides of time and age. The words like “black night doth take away” signify the end of a mortal life, and all the emotions pertaining to it, as death proclaims its inevitable victory. ["Sonnet LXXIII: That Time of Year thou mayst in me Behold by William Shakespeare: The Poetry Foundation"]
This sonnet depicts the love that the poet nurtures in his heart for his lover, but he is aware of the inevitability of his demise due to age and his failure in bestowing his love for a longer time. The poet has used certain metaphors like “glowing of such fireon ashes of his youth doth lie” which symbolize the significance of the correlation of youth and love. The poet depicts that the human body is like the wood which burns an eternal flame of love but when death consumes the mortal frame, it douses the flame of love and all that remains is the ashes of memory. ["Analysis of Shakespeare's Sonnet 73 - That Time of year thou mayst in me behold"]
This poem transcends the limits of love and extends its horizon to the inevitable occurrences of the human life, life and death, and acknowledges the significance of these events in the propagation of a truly blissful experience like love. The poet also notes that the feeling of love is not left unchallenged by external factors and it is upon the beholder of such a felling to protect it from all the obstacles which come its way. These challenges are depicted in the words like “boughs which shake against the cold” and “Bare ruin’d choirs” where the external factors seem to obstruct the beauty of simple emotions by imposing upon them the dominating factors of time and age. This poem also signifies that true love knows no boundaries and it can bloom in the hearts of all, irrespective of the facts of how old we are and how soon our life will be consumed by death. It is more important to acknowledged this feeling and celebrate its existence instead of lamenting on its inevitable demise.
Conclusion:
Based on our analysis of the works of three literary genres, it would not be incorrect to state that the universal concept of “love” exists in various shapes and forms, and it is quite evident in the difference in its portrayal. “A Doll’s House” depicted love won and love lost due to the lack of mutual respect and the endeavor to find one’s individual significance. On the contrary, “To My Dear and Loving Husband” portrayed love with such magnitude that it challenged the common notion of individual existence and relied more on the unison of two mortal beings in the embrace of mutual love. It showcases the fact that true love is capable of uniting two people as “one” entity while they bask in the glory of its presence in their lives. The third work, “That Time of Year” defies both the previous notions of love and takes the whole feeling to a new level which is dependent on the inevitable circumstances of human life. It shows love as an existing emotion till the time the human body is blessed with the charm and strength of youth which when taken away not only makes the body a mere tool of reminiscence but also turns the love into a fading mist of memories. Considering the fact that “love” exists in all the three works, albeit in different ways; we can safely conclude that the central theme of love is an appropriate tool to analyze the meaning and the depth of certain literary works.
The analysis of the three works helps us to prove the point that the central concept of love which underlies in each of the work, even though they differ in their prominence, is too overpowering to be overlooked. By uncovering this central theme, we will not only get a deeper understanding of the literary work, but will also be enlightened about the various formations, repercussions and consequences of this universally known and much coveted feeling of “love”.
References:
- Bradford, Wade. "A Doll's House Plot Summary - Synopsis of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House." About.com Plays / Drama, 2013. Web. 17 Dec 2013. <http://plays.about.com/od/plays/a/dolls_summary.htm>.
- "To My Dear and Loving Husband- Poets.org - Poetry, Poems, Bios & More." Poets.org, 2013. Web. 17 Dec 2013. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16108>.
- An Analysis Of Anne Bradstreet's Poem, "To My Dear And Loving Husband". "An Analysis of Anne Bradstreet s Poem, "To My Dear and Loving Husband" - Term Papers - Kubblejoes." Studymode.com, 2013. Web. 17 Dec 2013. <http://www.studymode.com/essays/An-Analysis-Of-Anne-Bradstreet's-Poem-437967.html>.
- "Sonnet LXXIII: That Time of Year thou mayst in me Behold by William Shakespeare: The Poetry Foundation." Poetryfoundation.org, 2013. Web. 17 Dec 2013. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174366>.
- "Analysis of Shakespeare's Sonnet 73 - That time of year thou mayst in me behold." Shakespeare-online.com, 2013. Web. 17 Dec 2013. <http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/73detail.html>.
