Essay Sample on Romantic Love in Shakespeare's

Introduction

Love confronts generalities. Theologians, philosophers, poets, and others have yielded several readings and theories but have failed to capture this profound entity's true nature. Love owes its strength to diversity and the ability to change, evolve, or permeate people's lives. It is no secret that this entity promotes mental and emotional wellbeing. Generally, a healthy and supportive relationship – whether friendship, familial, or romantic – helps enhance a person's self-confidence and surges their sense of self-worth and self-esteem.

Regardless of the form, love helps individuals incorporate safer behaviors into their daily lives. Nowhere is this concept captured accurately than in Gloria Naylor's Mama Day and William Shakespeare's The Tempest. Despite presenting the love and relationships in significantly different lights, the authors present love as having a deeper meaning and purpose than the superficial one. An in-depth reflection on romantic relationships between the main characters in Naylor’s and Shakespeare’s texts shows how the authors use love to highlight human behavior and encourage the reader to consider the various factors that shape people's lives.

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Love Stories

Naylor commits her entire text to narrate love stories. George's and Cocoa's relationship dominate her novel. Early in the narrative, the author highlights the characters' difference by focusing on aspects such as family background, personality, general temperament, and personal expectations. Cocoa complains of her husband's demanding nature and lack of imagination while the latter contends that sharing a space with a woman is sufficient challenge. But despite the characters' differences, some mysterious quality attracts them to one another. The incipient connection – erratic, enigmatic, perplexing, yet alluring and lasting – reflects Naylor's definition of life's paradoxical nature. Naylor links George's and Cocoa's relationship and marriage to several disparate entities, forcing readers to examine the discrepancy that arises when individuals cannot accept other mysteries' validity but can accept relationships' mysterious nature.

Throughout the novel, the author makes this point explicit when she shows Mama Day's attempts to convince George that saving his wife's life necessitates engaging in a mystical ritual. Mama Day tells George, “You see, she done bound more than her flesh up with you. And since she's suffering from something more than the flesh, I can't do a thing without you” (Naylor 294). Mama Day's statement reminds George of the emotional bond he and Cocoa share. Throughout Mama Day, George’s and Cocoa’s growth relies on the bond the two share, thus explaining why Naylor uses a bulk of her novel to cover the characters' narration. Both George and Cocoa write to one another, aiming to record the joys, frustrations, anxieties, and feelings that punctuated their love and marriage life. Even following George's demise – after all, he is writing from the grave – and his wife's new marriage, the two remain connected. George gives up his life for Cocoa's. To compensate for that sacrifice, the latter honors her husband by recognizing his nonstop impression on her, documenting his life, even naming her second son after the dead husband.

Highly Glorified Love

In Shakespeare's The Tempest, the love between Mirada and Ferdinand is highly glorified. The two characters fall instantly in love as if their romance blossomed magically. Their relationship is filled with love and joy, raising the question of whether it is a fantasy. In the real sense, the two owe their love to Prospero's magic that caused the wreck. Ferdinand encounters Miranda while following the "sweet air" of Ariel's song (Shakespeare 22). The former initially believes in Miranda's magical trait as an island goddess. Likewise, the latter believes in Ferdinand's magical nature as a heavenly creature who surpasses mortality. Miranda's and Ferdinand's love stems from the former's honest admiration of the latter's personality. From the text, Miranda is portrayed as a loving character who displays a lot of emotions and genuine care for the people around her at the play's outset. The character's compassionate feelings help set the tone of the play. Miranda explains how she has “suffer’d / With those that I saw suffer!” highlighting her care and selflessness regardless of the type of individuals she encounters (Shakespeare 6).

As an islander, the only people she knows are Prospero and Caliban – her father and the deformed slave. There are no other females on the island other than herself, making her appear somewhat arrogant of the world, drawing from the little experience she had about people and other things beyond the island. However, Miranda might have learned her lesson by interacting with Caliban, who had tried to rape her despite the latter's kindness. It would then appear that such an encounter would have taught Miranda not to trust other people easily as some, but not all, people are nicer as she perceived. However, upon Alonso's people's arrival and their interaction with Miranda, the latter thinks they are amazing. Miranda states, “How many goodly creatures are there! / How beauteous mankind is!” (Shakespeare 77). The character's statement reveals her naivety about other folks. The portrayal of Miranda's character is that of an innocent individual whose sexual experience is limited to combating Caliban's lustful advances. Her limited knowledge of the world leads her to the assumption that all men are good.

Psychoanalytical Approach

To better analyze Naylor's and Shakespeare's texts, it is essential to incorporate a psychoanalytical approach grounded on Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis. According to Lall, through his developmental theory, Freud argued that people's unconscious desires or fears – often childhood-linked – tend to interfere with their conscious lives (255). He also argued that humans' sexual energies tend to induce significant confusion in people's minds; this generally stemmed from suppressing such energy when it conflicted with a civilized society's mandates (Cherry). However, at some point, this repressed energy would somehow be displayed either through constructive or destructive ways. Moreover, Freud linked the concepts of childhood experience and sexual energy. In this regard, he posited that since a child's first sexual yearning shares a link with the opposite-sex parent, then the resultant child-parent relationship would significantly contribute to understanding the former's relationship with others once he or she grows old enough. By psychoanalytically reading Naylor's and Shakespeare's works, one can thoroughly investigate the main character's conscious and subconscious motivations. In turn, one can understand the link between characters' mental states or feelings and their actions. The overall outcome then reveals the authors' motives.

To some great extent, Naylor's essay highlights her decision to incorporate psychoanalysis in her narrative. The author presents George and Cocoa reevaluating every aspect of their love life while reminiscing about their journey together. The sections narrated by these characters reflect what some readers may deem journal entries meant to heal the characters' previous frustrations and pain. By allowing the characters to talk freely, Naylor reveals the former's ostensibly distinct aspects of their personalities. The author highlights how this reminiscing introduces the characters to the realization that the various components depicted in their personalities contribute to their imperfection as humans. Yet, their matrimonial unification completes these personality components.

For instance, Cocoa compensates for what George lacks, and vice versa. The latter practicality helps to ground his wife, while at the same time, being challenged by her temperance. Nevertheless, the characters fully appreciate their compatibility after George's demise. Both George and Cocoa use much of their marriage years to challenge themselves in a manner they comprehend less. Drawing from Freudian theory – particularly the impact of child issues on human behavior – it is apparent that both characters suffer a sense of loss. For instance, there was no consistent male presence in Cocoa's domestic life, as her father abandoned her mother before the latter gave birth to Cocoa. In turn, this influenced her temperance toward George, as exhibited in her initial effort to force her husband to chose between his love of Monday night football and his love for her. Another example is also apparent in Cocoa's jealousy when her husband adapts well to life in Willow Springs besides earning respect and love of Cocoa's family. Whenever George denies Cocoa undivided attention, the latter transforms into a little girl with an unsatisfied emotional void.

Preoccupation With Individuation Problems

Like Naylor, Shakespeare's text highlights his preoccupation with individuation problems, particularly the problem of how one can renounce their childhood yearning for parental love. Submitting Shakespeare's text to a psychoanalytic interpretation highlights the motives underlying his creative imagination. Drawing from Freud's 'pleasure principle' readers of Shakespeare's play see how the author defined Ferdinand's and Miranda's characters. When the two falls in love, Ferdinand's character reveals how the pleasure principle dominates him. Despite Prospero's (Miranda's father) stern warning, Ferdinand never stopped loving Miranda.

The pleasure principle also dominates the latter's personality. Shakespeare uses Miranda to personify the cherished female image – the erotic female ideal. She depicts the male psyche's feminine aspects such as closeness to nature, gentleness, patience, tenderness, receptiveness, among others. On the contrary, the author portrays Ferdinand as an embodiment of the female psyche's male side. He is assertive, a fighter, a leader, powerful, and controlling. One may contend that both characters exhibit an embodiment of the male and female archetypes (Thatcher 167). Thus, the love at first sight – abrupt and instant surge of romance – between Miranda and Ferdinand signifies their parity and parallelism. To both characters, falling in love immediately, at first sight, is the outcome of finding a partner who matches their qualities. After getting married and consummating their love – against Ferdinand's warnings regarding such before time by Prospero – the couple becomes 'divine,' as this rite translates to a union between the opposites' femininity and masculinity.

Conclusion

Conclusively, Naylor's Mama Day and Shakespeare's The Tempest, despite their complexity, significantly highlight the impact of love in changing human behavior, thus encouraging the reader to consider the various factors that shape people's lives. Naylor's text presents George and Cocoa falling in love after an extended period, and their marriage is occasionally filled with jealousy and disagreements. On the contrary, in Shakespeare's text, Miranda and Ferdinand immediately fall in love and consummate their marriage relationship within hours through Prospero's slight manipulation. Despite the apparent differences in both texts, the portrayal of humans and their relationships are fascinating, especially how the authors represent love as an important human experience, particularly its influence on personal growth. The authors' comment on people's nature and provide deep statements regarding the joys and evils of life.

Works Cited

Cherry, Kendra. Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development. 19 Nov. 2020,
https://www.verywellmind.com/freuds-stages-of-psychosexual-development-2795962. Accessed 14 Dec. 2020.

Lall, Anamika. Psychoanalysis of the Characters of ‘The Tempest’ – In Reference to The Freud’s Personality Structure. International Journal of English Language and Translation Studies, vol. 4, no. 3, 2017, pp. 254-257.