preview

Critical Appreciation Of Sonnet 47

Better Essays

The determined female monarch, Queen Elizabeth I, was known for creating a cultural of love in England during her reign. Her love for her people and devotion to their protection was symbolized by her commitment to remain chaste throughout her life. In return, she was said to be well liked by her people. This relationship of love between Queen Elizabeth I and her courtiers provides for a unique power balance in Elizabethan courts and intertwines with the popular practice of writing love sonnets in 15th century England. Poets wrote deeply romantic and emotion filled sonnets that had underlying political messages, like those of Phillip Sidney. Phillip Sidney’s love sonnets, as evident in sonnet 47 from Astrophil and Stella, symbolize and comment on the balance of power in court politics and the uneasiness of Elizabethan society about the rule of a female. Sonnet 47 illustrates the torment and inner struggle that a man experience when the woman he loves, Stella, does not return his love. This plot of betrayal of love is common in sonnet writing. The speaker is frustrated and contemplates what to do about his love. It is written in choppy verses that symbolize the sheer anguish and struggle that the speaker is experiencing. There is also a major shift in tone in the middle of the sonnet. The first half of the sonnet is written in a series of questions as the speaker reflects on how he got into the situation that he is in. The questions possess strong imagery of slavery with

Get Access