What Shakespeare Said About Love – lots actually. We all know Shakespeare has always been associated with love – his classic plays and poems have voyaged throughout the centuries, widely studied and enjoyed, and still so poignant today.

At the age of 18, Shakespeare married the 26-year-old love of his life Anne Hathaway. The consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582.

Two neighbours (of Hathaway’s) the very next day  posted bonds as surety that there were no impediments to the marriage. The couple may have arranged the ceremony in some haste, since the Worcester chancellor allowed the marriage banns to be read once instead of the usual three times.

Now it is said that Hathaway’s pregnancy could have been the reason for this. Six months after the marriage, she gave birth to a daughter, Susanna. Twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later.

Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613.

Here without further adieu we look at What Shakespeare Said About Love. Guide yourself through our selection of 5 of the best William Shakespeare quotes of Love that are sure to touch your heart.

What Shakespeare Said About Love

“Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is wing’d cupid painted blind.”

– A Midsummer’s Nights Dream, Protagonist Helena’s unrelenting love for Demetrius despite his faults and foibles.

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

…

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”

– Sonnet 18, One of Shakespeare’s best known works and one of the most widely read poems.

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose,

By any other name would smell as sweet.”

– The most celebrated star-crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, kept apart because of family rivalries. Juliet questions the significance of a title or name, knowing that it is insincere, especially in relation to her true love.

“Love comforteth like sunshine after rain.”

In the first published work of Shakespeare’s, the poem Venus and Adonis. The Greek goddess falls in love with the human Adonis.

“See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand!

O, that I were a glove upon that hand,

That I might touch that cheek!”

– Romeo longs to be part of Juliet’s life in any which way. Forbidden love at its most passionate – Romeo and Juliet.

You got something better? We’d love to hear it.

WHY NOT COME AND SEE RSC’S ROMEO AND JULIET IN 2019

What Shakespeare Said About Love?

Blackpool’s Grand Theatre will present Royal Shakespeare Compay’s Romeo and Juliet, Tuesday 26 February to Saturday 2 March 2019.

Blackpool’s Grand Theatre is delighted to see the RSC return, following the huge success of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 2016.

What if your first true love was someone you’d been told to hate?

Ripped apart by the bitter divisions of their parents, two young people will risk everything to be together.

The most famous story of love at first sight explodes with intense passion and an irresistible desire for change. Will this spark a revolution, or will division continue to tear through generations?

‘THE TALE OF STAR-CROSSED LOVERS IS BROUGHT INTO DAZZLINGLY SHARP RELIEF.’ Evening Standard

Main image © John Gilbert