Does True Love Exist?
“I love you.” These three little words might possibly be the most powerful statement one can make to another person. In life, most yearn for the intimate affection that a certain someone can provide them. Women dream of their Prince Charming to come and sweep them off their feet, while men search for the love of their life that sets their heart on fire. But what happens when love is thrown around without a second thought? Has this four letter word become an overused cliché? Has love been replaced with lust? Is there such a thing as true love? This last question has been asked throughout history, while many have argued and debated over the final answer. We, as a society, have become a loveless, sex crazed group of people with no concern for any emotion or attachment in our lives. So does this mean that true love does not exist? No. This only shows that achieving the deepest of feelings takes work that our fast-food eating, TV watching generation is not prepared to handle. I believe that true love does exist, but has merely been pushed aside by convenience, superficiality, and apathy.
It seems that over the years, true love is expressed less and less. We are bombarded with holiday cards filled with someone else’s words, and are practically forced to send our love in an email. How often do we actually sit down and write out our feelings to the one we love? “To My Dear and Loving Husband,” however, is the quintessential love letter. Anne Bradstreet shares her feelings to her husband in such a loving way that could make anyone’s heart melt. According to BellaOnline, Bradstreet was, “married to governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony and had eight children.” Even though her marriage might have become filled with routines and lost a little passion, the poet never loses the love for her husband. She states that the power of her “…love is such that rivers cannot quench”(Bradstreet, 7). Bradstreet expresses her emotions to be so strong that not even a roaring river can possibly satisfy them. She prizes her husband’s “…love more than whole mines of gold/ Or all the riches that the East doth hold,” (Bradstreet, 5-6) meaning she values his affection more than any amount of money she could obtain. The sonnet goes on to prove how everlasting true love can be when Bradstreet states, “…when we live no more, we may live ever”(12). She wishes to...
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In The Great Gatsby, the characters demonstrate that love has no relevant meaning in a relationship without the security that wealth provides. Gatsby and Wilson present Daisy and Myrtle with much of love; however, they both are stunned when Tom’s wealth and security win over the two ladies’ hearts A similar situation occurred with the author Francis Scott Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda. She broke off their engagement due to Fitzgerald’s menial job. After publishing his books, Fitzgerald acquired a great deal of wealth and fame, then he was allowed to marry Zelda. Wealth is the key to a happy life along with love, however, love alone cannot provide happiness in marriage.
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Bradstreet and Taylor differed greatly on how they wrote about love. Bradstreet wrote many poems about love for herself, her husband, her children, humankind and also
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