A" AQA Love Through The Ages Quote Bank

WIDER READING QUOTATION BANK

14th - 16th Century

‘The Middle Ages’ (1300-1500)

The idea of courtly love was popular, as were moral messages in literature. Religion was important. 

Chaucer - Wife of Bath

‘But wel I woot expres, withoute lye,

God bad us for to wexe and multiplye’ - women using men for sex, gives the Wife power

16th - 17th Century

‘The Renaissance’ (1500-1670)

Marriage was used to create ties between families, giving power. Women were seen as possessions. The sonnet form became popular. 

Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet

‘If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully’ (Juliet proposes to Romeo - defies societies expectations)

Shakespeare - Much Ado About Nothing

‘I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest’ (Talking to each other in third person could also be used to show the antagonistic side of Beatrice & Benedict’s love)

Shakespeare - Othello

‘Old black ram tupping your white ewe’ Forbidden love, cultural divide.

‘O beware my Lord of jealousy’ Iago to Othello ‘the green eyed monster’

Shakespeare - Richard III (1592)

‘Thy beauty hath made them blind by weeping’  - romantic love.

Shakespeare - My Mistresses eyes Are Nothing Like The Sun

‘I think my love as rare, as any she belied with false compare’

Shakespeare - Shall I Compare Thee To A Summer’s Day

‘Thou art more lovely and more temperate’

Ben Johnson - On My First Sonne

‘Farewell, thou child of my right hand, and joy’ - familial love.

Apra Behn - The Rover (1677)

‘Thy lodging sweetheart, thy lodging or I’m a dead man!’ - lust and sexual desire

‘Can you storm? O most furiously’

Thomas Middleton - Women Beward Women (1657)

‘When blood that should be love is mixed with lust’ - lust and sexual desire

‘I love thee dearlier than an uncle can, as a man loves his wife so I love thee’ - forbidden love in that the relationship is incestuous. 

John Ford - Tis Pity She’s a Whore (1630)

‘Love me or kill me sister’ - incestuous relationship between brother and sister.

Late 17th Century

‘The Restoration’ (1667-1700)

Metaphysical poets became popular as scientific knowledge was increasing. Restoration comedy also increased. 

John Donne - The Flea

Our blood is mixed together so we are practically married, so have sex with me!

John Donne - To his Mistress Going To Bed

‘Off… Unpin… Unlace…’ use of imperatives - power of a man

‘O My America!’ Exploring new lands, scientific wonder comparing this to a woman (links to Ted Hughe’s - Birthday letters (1998): ‘You were a new world. So this is America, I marvelled’)

George Farquhar - The Recruiting Officer

‘Bring over a cargo of lace…