William Shakespeare presents his definition of what makes love true in his untitled sonnet beginning, "Suppose me not the marriage of true spirits." Shakespeare does not deny other views of love, but emphasizes a certain characteristic of love: love is rigid and crucial for enduring life. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”? Get an original essay With the very first line of the Sonnet, Shakespeare indirectly acknowledges that there can be obstacles in true love: “Don't let me not go to the marriage of true spirits / Admit obstacles.” By recognizing that it is possible to have "obstacles" in a healthy relationship, Shakespeare may be seeking to attract the audience's attention by creating a realistic and achievable love. Additionally, marrying real "spirits" rather than just two people suggests that Shakespeare carefully chose "spirits" for deeper meaning. It is possible that the word "spirit" was used to illustrate the thought behind true love. Without thought, a person would be more primitive, and primary instincts come with physical drives and desires. Shakespeare's selection of words proposes that love is more than physical, it is reasoned. The next part of Shakespeare's sonnet expresses the unyielding characteristic of love. The phrase "Love is not love / Which changes when it alters" creates a sense of stability for love since Shakespeare argues that love is false if it changes with a change in circumstances . Shakespeare goes on to say that love is not true if it "bends with him that takes it away to take it away." Shakespeare describes love as strong and rigid. Shakespeare describes true love as being stubborn, in a way. The lack of flexibility he evokes might contradict the analogy Sophocles creates in his play Antigone about Creon's arrogant actions: "You have seen trees by a raging winter stream / How many sway with the flood and recover every twig, / But not the stubborn ones — they are torn off, roots and all / Bend or break.” By contrasting the nature of love with Creon's personality, Shakespeare creates a distinction between the stubbornness of love and other incarnations of stubbornness. Shakespeare even seems to mirror Sophocles' work in the next section of his sonnet. Instead of the inhibiting nature of stubbornness exhibited in Antigone, Shakespeare makes the stubbornness of love encouraging. Shakespeare writes, “Love looks upon storms and is never shaken,” meaning that love endures in troubled times – the opposite fate of the stiff trees described by Sophocles. The line is also distinguished by its meter change. The verse detaches itself from the iambic pentametric form of a sonnet by ending the verse with an anapest. The inclusion of an additional unstressed syllable could emphasize that firmness is important to the overall meaning of love. Shakespeare goes on to metaphorically compare love to the North Star: "Love is the star of every wandering bark, / Whose worth is unknown, though its size is taken". Shakespeare views love as a guide for all barkers (metaphorically people) throughout life The North Star comparisons persist because the advice they give is invaluable, whether it's the captain's successful navigation. a ship or happy life with a loved one A hyphenation separates the idea that the value of love is unknown from the suggestion that love can still be measured The North Star can be measured for. determine its position,./10.1007/978-1-349-05443-5_12)