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As Othello later states, he loves “not wisely but too well.” The couple’s strong marriage cannot stand up against the suspicions that Iago plants in Othello’s head. In Othello, the sneaky Iago uses the transformative power of jealousy to sabotage Othello and Desdemona’s relationship. In some cases, they become irrationally jealous, destroying their relationships in the process. Reasonable characters start acting unbalanced when in the grips of love.
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For all of these couples, the risks are worth it they end up with their lovers, living happily ever after. In As You Like It, Rosalind pretends to be a man so she can spend time with her love interest, Orlando, without being sure of what his reaction will be when she eventually removes her disguise. Their friend Helena also takes a desperate chance by following Demetrius, though he has expressed no interest in her. In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hermia and Lysander elope to the woods to be married. In several cases, love (or perhaps lust) cause characters to run away with each other, and their decisions don’t lead to tragedy. Not all of Shakespeare’s risk-takers are ill-fated. Transformed, Macbeth now sees death, life, and, by extension, love as “signifying nothing.” But the risks don’t pay off and, in the end, Macbeth has become such a broken man that he doesn’t shed a tear when Lady Macbeth dies.
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After a series of violent actions, Macbeth becomes king.
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Macbeth trusts and is devoted to his “dearest love,” his wife, so he listens. When Lady Macbeth finds out that Macbeth might be fated to be king, she pushes him to embrace his aggressive side and murder the current king. While Macbeth is more about a political power struggle than a romance, love for her husband does play a part in turning Lady Macbeth into a risk-taker. But their daring scheme goes awry, and a misunderstanding leads one to commit suicide by poison and the other to die by a “happy dagger.” (Incidentally, the members of their families who haven’t died of grief end up getting along.) You’re probably familiar with the story of Romeo and Juliet, two hormonal teenagers who meet at a ball and, having known each other for only a few hours, secretly plan to marry, though their families are sworn enemies and would never approve. Others have dangerous-and permanent-consequences. Love transforms previously stable characters into risk-takers in William Shakespeare's plays. Some risks pay off. We’ll examine these characters and others as we look at the ways that love transforms Shakespeare’s characters. And Romeo and Juliet were famously willing to give up their fortunes, families, and-ultimately-their lives for love. In As You Like It, Rosalind impersonates a man so that she can spend time with Orlando, her love interest. In The Taming of the Shrew, Kate gives up her abusive and headstrong behavior and becomes a domesticated version of her former self. It prompts them to change their personalities, to take risks, and to make sacrifices that would otherwise be unthinkable. So, too, can we identify with young lovers pursuing a forbidden relationship (Romeo and Juliet), the agony of unrequited love (Helena and Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream), and the sarcasm of an intense flirtation (Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado about Nothing).įor Shakespeare’s characters, love transforms. While it’s unlikely that an audience member will have murdered the king of Scotland (as Macbeth does), almost everyone has experienced or seen a power struggle between a married couple (as between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth). As viewers and readers, we can relate to Shakespeare’s characters because we understand the desire for heartfelt relationships.