Can Love Survive Marriage? Stephen Greenblatt on Shakespeare

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SPEAKER 2

You better not think about what the marriage is going to be about afterwards. Enjoy the thrill now.

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SPEAKER 1

When you feel that passionate love, indulge in it because it's not going to last. Maybe it does last, but you don't know. You don't know. How would you possibly know? How do you make sense of that? That on one hand, the women are often portrayed better than the men,

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SPEAKER 2

and yet the marriages still end up terrible. I think that Shakespeare thought there was something wrong with men. The great love poets, Dante, Petrarca, they're not writing love poems to their wives. Romeo and Juliet, their love is also feverish. I want to disagree with you. In that case alone, Romeo and Juliet really were made for each other.

Can Love Survive Marriage? Stephen Greenblatt on Shakespeare

An interview with Stephen Greenblatt on Shakespeare's views on love.

Aug 16, 2024

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Companion lectures and interviews:

Lecture on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar
Stephen Greenblatt on Shakespeare's social ambition:
Stephen Greenblatt on Shakespeare's literary genius:

Professor Greenblatt's book:

Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare, Amazon (affiliate)

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0:17

SPEAKER 2

and yet the marriages still end up terrible. I think that Shakespeare thought there was something wrong with men. The great love poets, Dante, Petrarca, they're not writing love poems to their wives. Romeo and Juliet, their love is also feverish. I want to disagree with you. In that case alone, Romeo and Juliet really were made for each other.