No emotion has as universal a meaning as love. It is an integral part of the human condition. Love is the basis on which all other emotions can be evaluated. Friendship and even sorrow are imbued with love. Love is so central to our lives that it is appropriate that it is the subject of so much discussion. Every culture and every writer has a commentary or assessment of love. The New Testament has its share of commentary on love. The very foundation of the Christian tradition is God's love for humanity. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” (John 3:6) Jesus preached a lot about loving your neighbor, loving God, and even loving your enemies. (Matt 5:44) Shakespeare's biblical knowledge is well known and he was certainly familiar with these concepts when he wrote his plays on the theme of love. By looking closely at his works, we can analyze the nature of true love. In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare gives an example of true love defeated by tragic fate. Her “star-crossed lovers” are so in love with each other that they cannot live without being together. (RJ Prologue, 6) In contrast, in Twelfth Night, the characters are so fickle that they change love interests in the space of a few lines. Comparing the true love of Romeo and Juliet with the superficial love of Twelfth Night, it becomes clear that Shakespeare agrees with the biblical assessment of love. It is of course necessary to begin by explaining what the biblical assessment of love is. Of all the references to love in the Bible, and there are many, three sources best apply to this discussion. In the Old Testament, the Song of Songs, a descriptive love poem between a woman and her true love, has many parallels with the love of Romeo and...... middle of paper ..... . and Juliette, Critical Essays. Garland Publishing, New York: (c) 1993 Palmer, DJ "'Twelfth Night' and the Myth of Echo and Narcissus." » in Shakespeare Survey 32. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge: (c) 1979 Parker, Barbara. A precious vision, a love and a reason in the plays of Shakespeare. New York University Press, New York: (c) 1987 Shaheen, Naseeb. "Shakespeare's Knowledge of the Bible - How He Acquired It" in Shakespeare Studies XX. Burt Franklin & Co., New York: (c) 1988Shakespeare, William. Romeo and Juliet. Cliff Notes, Lincoln: (c) 1965Shakespeare, William. Twelfth Night. Cliff Notes, Lincoln: (c) 1965 Summers, Joseph H. "The Masks of Twelfth Night" in Twentieth Century Interpretations of Twelfth Night. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs: (c) 1968 Vyvyan, John. Shakespeare and the Rose of Love. Chatto & Windus, London: (c)1960