Alexander John M Dy 31 August 2007

LIT 102 Mr Juan D Borra III

The Idea of How Loving in Silence Can Be Seen as Not Loving at All

Isn’t it always hard to express to someone how much you love him/her? Is it always
because of being shy that we tend love in silence, or simply because we fear to be rejected. Isn’t
it true that the moment we chose not to express our love for someone is just good as already
being rejected? How can loving in silence be seen as not loving at all?
In Act 1 scene 1, when asked by King Lear to express her love for him, Cordelia simply
answered “nothing” (I.i.87). Although her choice of not telling her love for Lear may be sincere
as opposed to her sisters’ unrealistic words (I.i.99-100), it showed some complexity for King
Lear, although favouring Cordelia the most (I.i.123), to fully measure Cordelia’s love for him.
In life, it is not enough to know that you are being loved; for love is expressed and
shown. For instance, how can a man win a beautiful lady’s heart if he loves her in silence? Even
if the lady knows that the man likes her, for obvious reasons (i.e. blushing, etc.), it is not enough
to say that the man loves her until proven. Love needs proofs, so as the lady needs to clarify
whether the man really loves her.
We always find it very difficult to express our deepest feelings; our love for someone.
We always have a hard time revealing our emotions when those thoughts were already organised
long before we plan to say it. No matter how genuine and true our feelings may seem, when not
told or expressed, will be useless leading us only to pain and suffering. Therefore, it is important
to know that in the act and virtue of loving, to love and be loved is a choice. Thus, being shy to
talk to someone you like is a choice, procrastinating to express love to someone is a choice, and
nevertheless, assuming the feeling and state of rejection, because of loving, in silence is a choice.
Thus, all the difficulties we experience in expressing love to someone are then considered
as just some of the obstacles we need to overcome in loving. That is why when we choose to
love in silence; (concealing our feelings, interests, avoiding the person we love, etc.) we also
choose not to be loved (by that person we’re hoping to notice us). And when we are not loved,
the pain and suffering we feel are just merely consequences of our choice.