Shakespeare’s sonnet 116 is loved by a lot of people. It is frequently used in wedding vows. Shakespeare compares love to, “an ever fixed mark,” such as the North Star is always in the same place. I think it is really funny that people use this sonnet in their wedding vows without knowing its true meaning. The speaker is saying that love has no limits and no boundaries, that even if your lover cheats on you or if things change your love will still be true. This is what love is seen as to the speaker. Love is always being true to your love even if your lover is not always true to you. Love is standing by your lover during times of difficulty and change.

This is kind of ironic in that though some people will stand by their mate throughout small changes, most will not. Most people who get married nowadays will not stand by their love in times when the other person cheats. They may not even stay with their partner in times of serious health problems. Serious problems or sometimes even minor ones can easily tear apart a marriage, especially most marriages of today. At times, people do things specifically to anger their partner. The Jerry Springer Show would be a perfect example. If you are having problems in your relationship why would you want to advertise it? You are just adding to the stress on the marriage.

Marriage today has become more of a commodity. A lot of people do not realize what it truly means to be married. For example, a friend of mine got married about six months ago and his wife left after three months because she said she ‘was not ready for marriage’. They’re getting divorced now. My other friend married his girlfriend of many years and although she never said she was not ready for marriage, she was obviously not ready, as she cheated on him and had a child by the other man. They are also divorced now, after maybe a year or two of marriage. Divorce has become so high in America and yet people still use this sonnet to describe love. It’s actually quite hysterical when you think about it.

Marriages of the past were not a thing that was just done. Marriages had purpose in the past. It was for a union of families, of wealth, of power, or of two people in love. People normally married for life, sometimes because they had to.

            People today have become disillusioned about love and marriage and what it means to truly love and commit to another person. In Josh Groban’s song Broken Vow he sings, “I close my eyes and dream of you and I and then I realize there’s more to love than only bitterness and lies”. Things went wrong in his relationship, whether it was marriage or not, and so he was only seeing the “lies” and not the love that he felt for his lover. He was unable to see anything but his hurt and when you love another person you should be able to see their pain as well. You should not just be focused on yourself. That’s what Shakespeare was trying to say but is often misunderstood or not understood at all.