Farhana Hanani

"The sun itself sees not until heaven clears."

- William Shakespeare, 148 sonnet

I was watching The Prince and Me last night and the female protagonist, Paige, was seeking help from the male protagonist, Eddie, for her Shakespeare class. Paige was asking for the interpretation of Sonnet 148 and fortunately, Eddie knew about it (I guess the royals are obliged to learn all kinds of literature) and my favorite part was when he explained the quote above.

He said, the word "sun" could mean the actual sun or it can mean light. But then "light" can mean knowledge or reason and in this case, it means reason, while "heaven" may refer to the pearly gates, or it could mean a state of being like being happy or in love. When Paige read the lines again, she came to an understanding. She said, it means that love blinds you, and when you're in love, you can't think reasonably. 

Personally, I was really touched by those lines because it is somehow true. Many people might disagree but it's understandable because not all of us use their heart and not all of us have ever actually loved. Love blinds us in many ways. We ignore their physical appearance, their economic status, their race, their language, their belief, and so on. We even ignore their shortcomings. Instead, we focus on the good things and the better things that are to come. I have also read somewhere that love is not blind, but rather, it sees but it doesn't mind (and it actually has the same context as the saying love is blind). We ignore our brain's ability to judge, our rational thinking, and we end up following the irrational and absurd things that our heart is telling us to do even if we know it's not right.

But according to the sonnet, when the heaven is clear, when we feel lonely and gloomy or brokenhearted, there comes the sun, the reason, the enlightenment. Until then, we realize that we have been blinded by love.