Shakespeare's treatment of love & marriage, and other essays

"Shakespeare's Treatment of Love & Marriage, and Other Essays" by C. H. Herford is a compilation of writings from the beginning of the 1900s that digs into Shakespeare's plays and poems. The core idea is how Shakespeare wrote about love and marriage, showing how his characters acted in romantic ways. Herford looks closely at the tricky parts of love in both funny and sad stories by Shakespeare, while also thinking about what influences how poems are made. The book starts by getting readers ready to think about love and marriage in Shakespeare's works, explaining that Shakespeare usually liked to show love as a mix of strong feelings, smart thoughts, and doing what's right. It claims that Shakespeare saw the best kind of love as something that leads to marriage naturally. The book then compares this view with other kinds of love that can cause funny or heartbreaking situations. This beginning part prepares the reader to examine the people in Shakespeare's stories and their relationships in more detail, putting emphasis on the joyful and good parts of love, and hinting at the problems that happen when people misunderstand each other or when outside forces put these loving ideals to the test.