Love is a universal human theme, complex and packed with emotion, that appears in many different forms in Shakespeare's plays.
In Romeo and Juliet, being forbidden to love each other only makes the young couple more determined.
In Macbeth, ambitious love ultimately destroys the central characters.
In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare pokes fun at different couples as they start courting and fall in love, first mocking Claudio's soppy statements about Hero, later making fun of Beatrice and Benedick after they fall for each other.
This clip is from the series Shakespeare Themes.
Teacher Notes
Students could look at love poetry, find images within the poems and discuss what they show us about the idea of love.
Are there different kinds of love? Why does love have power over people?
They could discuss the benefits of love vs the dangers.
Write their own love poems.
Curriculum Notes
This clip will be relevant for teaching English Literature at KS3 and KS4/GCSE in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Also 3rd and 4th level in Scotland.
This topic appears in OCR, Edexcel, AQA, WJEC, CCEA and SQA.