The Little Book of Shakespeare on Love

No writer, before or since, has matched Shakespeare in terms of influence, critical acclaim or popular success. And the Bard had plenty to say about the subject of love – the word appears more than 2,000 times in his collected works! Packed full of timeless reflections on the subject – from the star-crossed devotions of Romeo and Juliet to the witty rhetoric in Much Ado About Nothing – and complemented by fascinating facts about Shakespeare and his works – this Little Book contains some of the most romantic and profound lines ever written in the English language.

“Hear my soul speak. Of the very instant that I saw you,
Did my heart fly at your service.”
Ferdinand – The Tempest, Act 3, Scene 1

“Did my heart love till now?
Forswear it, sight!
For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.”
Romeo – Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 5

“Doubt that the stars are fire,
Doubt that the sun doth move his aides,
Doubt truth to be a liar,
But never doubt I love.”
Hamlet – Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2

No-one has influenced the modern rom-com genre as much as Shakespeare. Perhaps the Bard’s most influential romantic comedy is Much Ado About Nothing, the timeless tale of sworn enemies who become lovers. Countless pop-culture pairings owe a debt to the play, from Elizabeth and Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice to the leads in When Harry Met Sally and Something’s Gotta Give.

Shakespeare’s best-loved sonnet, “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?”, touches on the themes of unattainable love and mortality. The poem is part of Shakespeare’s “Fair Youth” sequence of sonnets, which many historians believe are actually about a young man.