William Shakespeare Love Quotes
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Amidst cautionary tales about deceit, vengeance, greed, and betrayal, of the many themes to be found within the plays of William Shakespeare, ‘love’ is one of the foremost themes.
150 – The number of times the word love appears in Romeo and Juliet.
25 – The age at which most couples married in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This was because it was expected that a male would have his own household in which the family unit could live and work.
18 – The age at which William Shakespeare married, making Shakespeare a very young groom by the standards of the time.
26/27 – The age of Anne Hathaway when she married William Shakespeare – possibly in a ‘shotgun’ wedding.
Romeo and Juliet is perhaps the most obvious example of a play in which love is a central theme. As a result, Romeo and Juliet has, unsurprisingly, been a source from which many famous Shakespeare love quotes have been drawn, including one of the most well known ‘romantic’ Shakespeare quotes:
This bud of love, by summer’s ripening breath, May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet. – Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II
Whilst love appears as a theme throughout much of Shakespeare’s literary work, it does so in a variety of guises which are at times unusual, rather eccentric, and frequently dark, as in these classic examples:
When in a moment, so it came to pass, Titania waked and straightaway loved an ass [donkey]. – A Midsummer Nights Dream, Act III, Scene II
Jug, I love thee!. – King Lear, Act I, Scene II
Funny Shakespeare Quotes
Despite having written 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 5 lengthy poems, within William Shakespeare’s collected works there are comparatively few intentionally ‘funny’ quotes that a modern audience would find amusing – especially when contrasted with poems evoking love, for example.
This is partly the result of obscure references, words whose meanings can be radically different, and a sense of humour often very different to our own, scattered throughout the plays of William Shakespeare there are, however, quotes that are ‘funny’ for these very reasons – examples of which have been included on our Funny Shakespeare Quotes page.
Want to know more about the Shakespeare works that these quotes come from? Find fascinating facts on our William Shakespeare plays page, and don’t forget to explore the enhanced lists of quotes on life, quotes on love, and the more elusive funny Shakespeare quotes. Or find out more about the man himself by exploring our biographical facts page.