LANGUAGE OF LOVE THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE. A DIFFICULT MATTER. 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS What does the language of love refer to? Why does the language of love is a difficult matter? Why do language of poetry is particularly suitable to express feelings? What are love’s main symbols? Which colours often coincide with the feeling? What are the main differences between the forms of courting and the language of love today and in the Renaissance? 2

What does the language of love refer to? It refers to the language used mainly in sonnets, tragedies and all the lyric poetry. It consists of all the rethorical choices, syntactical devices and narrative processes which better express feelings and emotionally move the reader. Shakespeare’s way of writing is a clear example of it, because the language he uses in his dialogue exchanges are often linked with body. 3

Why does the language of love is a difficult matter? Because it can hide various meanings, construable in different ways by everyone, depending on one’s nature or according to circumstances. Love is an emotion: it’s hard, and much more was in the Renaissance, to study impartially something linked with feelings. First reflections about psychoanalysis were made in XVII century by Leibniz and after by Freud, so in the Renaissance love was a new “problem” to tackle. 4

Why does language of poetry is particularly suitable to express feelings? Language of poetry is a rethorical language, so it better respond to this necessity. Language of poetry is full of figures of speech, which can disguise deep ideas below their literal meaning. Language of poetry allows many poets like Shakespeare to make the reader emotionally moved: his stories end tragically, like many dramatic plays. 5

What are love’s main symbols? Love is the word used to refer to an emotion of a strong attraction or personal attachment. Its archetypal symbol is a red heart. Why? The heart is supposed to be the core of emotions: it’s at the center of our body and conciliates not only love, but also anger, fear, happiness, melancholy exc. Other items like chains or padlocks are often used to express the concept of bond. 6

Which colours often coincide with the feeling? When someone speaks about love people often link the feeling with red. Why? Red is the colour of our heart and more precisely of blood: it can recall to a link or a relationship. Red gives also the idea of passion; for the same reason on St. Valentine’s Day couples give each other a red rose, as a pawn of love. 7

What are the main differences between the forms of courting and the language of love today and in the Renaissance? Renaissance covers the period from the XIV to the XVII century. Today we live in the XXI century. The time gap is about five-six centuries. One can infer which the main differences are due to the different ages. 8

Forms of courting today Today’s forms of courting, especially between teenagers, are: speaking to the boy/girl, texting (sending emoticons), body language, looking after one’s appearance. Besides today a girl can court a boy too. 9

Forms of courting in the Renaissance In the Renaissance only men used to court: women’s way of courting was apparently a response to a men’s courting. A man used to court a woman with passionate considerations, using language of religion, which witnessed a high way to approach. In Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare the “knight” notices the “lady” and approaches to her with clear religious references to show his aristocracy. 10