The Theme of Love in Literature - Essay Example

From the likes of the great William Shakespeare who has written more sonnets than he has of plays to Francesco Petrarch who has introduced Petrarchan sonnets. Romantic love will always persist no matter what age or time for it is consistently an indispensable design among human beings as part of his innate nature. This partakes of so many variations and degrees that could range from tragic love to everlasting to clandestine and even to forbidden. Among the most memorable and quite popular in terms of sonnets, to delineate at the very least, would be Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s sonnet 43 in iambic pentameter which professes her undying love to her husband Robert Browning.

The opening lines by itself tell of the faithful devotion between a man and a woman bonded by the sacramental (and man formulated) union of marriage between a man and a woman. “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways./ I love thee to the depth and breadth and height/ My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight/ For the ends of being and ideal grace” (Barrett Browning, lines 1-4). This love poem encapsulates a type of love that only poetic expression could express. This classic and well-quoted piece substantiates that kind of enigmatic desire to be with someone.

There is no wonder why almost every rendering of books, movies, songs and other forms of literature integrates passion and love. Another kind of love that can be perceived in literature is love for country or patrimony. This is evoked through a deep sense of love to protect the freedom and the integrity of one’s heritage. This necessarily entails the safeguarding and the propagation of culture for the benefit of the future generation. The greatest manifestation of patriotic love is often portrayed in times of war.

The importance given by the nation to the celebration of the 4th of July further signifies the truth and belief in this concept of love as an important part of human existence. The belongingness and protection that is abundantly given by a person’s citizenship only explain the nationalist attitude that exudes among its citizens.