36 pages • 1 hour read
William CongreveLove for Love
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1695A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Astrology and Omens
Foresight’s obsession with astrological predictions and omens, and the imagery associated with both, occur frequently in his speech and occasionally in the speech of other characters (as when Scandal jokes that Jeremy “speaks like an oracle” (1.122). The symbolism of these beliefs illustrates the play’s ongoing thematic preoccupation with the idea of determinism VS agency in the lives of the characters. The characters in the play often struggle against circumstances of birth or finance that they did not choose, while trying to assert their own will and desire. The degree of agency varies from character to character, suggesting that while Foresight’s superstitions may be foolish, his belief that not everything is within one’s own power does have some merit within the world of the play.
Disguise and Deception
Disguise is used both literally and metaphorically in the play to represent the duplicity of some of the characters’ intentions. Jeremy tricks Mrs. Frail and Tattle into marrying one another through the ruse of disguise, as they marry one another dressed as a friar and a nun while unable to see one another’s faces.
Valentine uses feigned madness as a ruse to try to evade signing over his inheritance to his brother, and in the hopes of inspiring Angelica to at last declare her love for him. However, he only succeeds in both endeavors when he stops his deception: in confessing his deception to his father and offering to sign the bond, he persuades Angelica of his devotion and leads her to tearing up the bond, and she then declares her love for him. Likewise, when speaking with Angelica privately, Valentine signals his desire for authenticity between them by asking her to leave “acting” so that they can “be ourselves” instead of playing roles. Rejection of disguise and play-acting is therefore associated with the real “love for love” of the play’s title, and enables characters like Valentine and Angelica to ultimately be their true selves with one another.
Truth and Corruption in High Society
The motif of truth and corruption appears several times throughout the play. In Act I, Scandal and Jeremy reject Valentine’s romanticism and plans to become a writer by telling him that the society they live in does not reward wit or talent anyway—it is a society built by the ignorant and the corrupt for their own benefit.
The idea of “Truth” becomes an important motif throughout Valentine’s bouts of feigned madness, as Valentine’s speeches as “Truth” allow him to speak of the moral corruption of Restoration society and the world of high society within the play. Valentine’s “Truth” exposes the shallowness and cynicism of his social circle, forming an important contrast to the genuine emotional connection he seeks in his relationship with Angelica.
Seafaring/Nautical Imagery
Ben’s speech is strongly shaped by his profession as a sailor; he constantly uses nautical imagery in similes and metaphors to express his feelings and ideas. This reoccurring seafaring imagery serves two important purposes in his characterization: first, it emphasizes the divide between Ben and the rest of the social circle in the play, as Ben is depicted as more down-to-earth and unsophisticated than Valentine and his peers; second, it reminds the reader that Ben enjoys a degree of financial independence and agency that Valentine does not, as Ben has a profession he can use as a means of supporting himself. The imagery of the open sea also suggests freedom and simplicity that forms a contrast to the more regimented, claustrophobic world of high society on land.
