Shakespeare’s Sonnet 152 “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” The famous opening line of Shakespeare’s eighteenth sonnet still resounds in today’s educational setting. Little do many students know that William Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets; all of them in the same format. Going through many of Shakespeare’s sonnets, a recurring theme of forbidden and secret love appeared. In his Sonnet 152, Shakespeare desperately pleads with an unknown love about their hidden love and how it affects their surroundings. Often Shakespeare was accused of making fun of other poets and authors of his time period, however this sonnet may have had a correlation with his complicated love life at the time. There is little known about Shakespeare’s love …show more content…
In this sonnet Shakespeare tells this woman, “all my honest faith in thee is lost,” meaning that he no longer is true to her. He then begins to tell of how much he praised and how he had “sworn deep oaths of thy deep kindness…thy love, thy truth, thy constancy,” though he knew all along that she was not these things as he states later in the sonnet. Shakespeare knows that he blinded himself in order to place this woman on a pedestal of fabricated perfection. Shakespeare’s feelings are extremely common upon today’s society. This universal sonnet displays how a man or woman feels, or should feel, after breaking a promise of marriage or love to another. Shakespeare’s guilt coincides with the sorrow he feels for himself after realizing that this woman is not perfect – he had only made her perfect in his mind. But isn’t that the case with most adulterers? The only reason they cheat on their wives or husbands is because they let the feeling of lust overcome their heart and good judgment. Once this has occurred, the adulterer attempts to make amends with themselves by saying that the actions they are taking are necessary because their spouse doesn’t make them happy and that this new lover does – fabricated perfection in its fullness. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 152 at first glance seems to be a wretched man wallowing in his adulterous sorrows. However, as one takes a closer look, themes of judgment and
Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets in his lifetime; the 56 sonnets being one of many. This sonnet in particular addresses a “fair youth”. Love is one of the major themes throughout the sonnets, as seen in Sonnets 1, 18, and 29, as well as many other works. Shakespeare is very well known in the literary community for his precise word choice, which often has deeper meaning than simply surface level. Throughout Sonnet 56, Shakespeare uses literary techniques such as comparison, personification, and symbolism to portray the meaning and emotion of love.
William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 138” presents an aging man’s rationalization for deceit in an affair with a younger woman. The speaker of the sonnet realizes his mistress lies to him about being faithful. He in turn, portrays himself as younger than he actually is: “When my love swears that she is made of truth / I do believe her though I know she lies, / That she might think me some untutored youth…” (1-3). “Sonnet 138” allows the reader a glimpse into the speaker’s mind, and what one finds is a man suffering from what is commonly known as a midlife crisis. In an effort to reverse “the downslope [sic] of age” (Kermode “Millions”), he takes part in a duplicitous affair with a
Is true love an unattainable ideal? Do we all have a soul mate? Is love just an exchange of lies for the purpose of flattery? These questions, and countless others, regarding love have been pondered by philosophers and pop music stars alike for hundreds of years. William Shakespeare examines these questions from two vantage points in “Sonnet 116” and “Sonnet 138.” Firstly, in “Sonnet 116”, Shakespeare analyzes love in a rhetorical manner, meaning that he is not discussing a specific relationship of his, but theorizing on the concept of love as a whole, in abstract terms. Conversely, in “Sonnet 138”, Shakespeare analyzes love in a specific manner. He looks inward to inspect a relationship between him and a woman, also known as The Dark Lady, and paints a much different picture of love than in “Sonnet 116”, in specific terms. In William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116” and “Sonnet 138”, Shakespeare analyzes love in abstract and specific terms; concluding that abstract love relies on affection, does not change or age, and is built upon a solid foundation of truth, while specific love, on the other hand, relies on lust, actively ignores change and aging, and revolves around deception. These two sonnets paint entirely adverse portraits of love in order to emphasize the dichotomy between the poet’s expectations of love, and the reality which does not live up to the poet’s expectations.
Moral dilemma Concerning Love and Loyalty When people unfamiliar with contemporary culture describe William Shakespeare, they often turn to his ubiquitous love poems and sonnets; they might also mention one of his many famous plays, such as Romeo and Juliet. Despite his popularity, his ideas remain to be an enigma; his cryptic writing wisped in clouds of ambivalence. And yet one aspect is to be certain: love. His obsession-like recurrence of the specific theme raises many questions about his idiosyncratic character. Nevertheless, Shakespeare’s laser-like focus also make him a great resource for many discussions regarding moral issues.
"Oh! What A Tangled Web We Weave When First We Practice To Deceive" -Sir Walter Scott. Shakespeare is one of the most celebrated authors in history, weaving deception throughout his writings. As he wrote about love, deception was seen over and over within his pieces. An example of Shakespeare’s work is from Sonnet 138, “O, love's best habit is in seeming trust.” This sonnet was based around a man and his mistress. The man knows that she lies about being faithful, but he also is aware that they do it in order to protect each other and their relationship. Later in Sonnet 157, the audience sees the outcome of the deception in Sonnet 138, as they are told that the man and his mistress are no longer. In the story of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo quotes, “O, how may I call this lightning? O my love! My wife! Death, that hath suck’d the honey
Shakespeare was a well-known 16th century playwright and author. In a range of his sonnets and his popular play, ‘Romeo and Juliet’, he presents his views and ideologies of love and challenges the conventions of love at the time. Shakespeare does this in a multitude of ways that subtly but effectively changes society’s view on love.
1. Women in Ancient Greece Mention ancient Greece to a friend and they may think of democracy, the Olympic games or the Spartan army. However, men created many of the sources that tell us about these institutions and developments; men were also the intended audience (Scott, 2009). But the ancient Greeks still felt a female presence in many aspects of their culture, including female gods, characters in poetry and folklore, and of course in everyday life. Women in the city of Sparta were allowed to own land, and one of the Spartan kings’ sisters even entered a chariot team in the Olympic games of 396 and 392 BCE (Scott 38).
One of the major themes in Romeo and Juliet is Love and its difficulties. Shakespeare tends to use this often in his plays and verses to create many emotions an effects. The relations and comparisons between the Acts/scenes and sonnets (18,129,36,29) in the play are studied in detail to understand Love and its difficulties. Shakespeare shows us how Love and relationships can change depending on situations by using the sonnets/ scenes and different language /imagery. This play was written during the Elizabethan era and this gives us an insight of what things were like in such a patriarchal society.
It is here that I imagine Shakespeare was trying to fore-shadow future events. The audience may being to predict that Olivia would make rash decisions based on her blind love.
In Sonnet 20, Shakespeare feels highly of himself so much that he believes he can basically admit to everyone that he has intentions for a men which is the Prince, the Prince doesn't have any intentions for William but he is so kind, flirty, and so smooth that Shakespeare begins to think they have a thing. Shakespeare feelings about the Prince are very prominent and deep in this sonnet that to me, he seems obsessed with something that is a fairy tale in his head. Shakespeare was married with kids but travels for his plays to make money so he rarely ever sees them but Shakespeare has a mistress that is also being shared between the Prince which is supposedly his true love but William feels betrayed by the Prince and his mistress and his attitude towards both of them changes very severely in sonnet 144.
During the Middle Ages, the rise of the Church’s influence was made apparent through the many glaring acts of power that took place. Whether it be a crusade on a far off land, or a local kingdom challenging the Papacy in ways such as electing their own bishops, they were a force to be reckoned with. It was in their best interest to control as many people as possible, working to gain power over the masses. The Papacy persuaded the common people to fear and support them through expulsion of outsiders, actions in gods will, and prosecution of the evil people within a society.
Two constant themes throughout this collection of sonnets is death and preservation. Shakespeare battles with the idea of how to preserve not only the beauty of his subject, but also his work without losing value and merit. Sonnet 17 and Sonnet 55 share the common idea that preservation is necessary and important, but each take different approaches to this preservation. From Sonnet 17 to Sonnet 55, Shakespeare grows confident in his craft and begins to develop a different ideology when it comes to preservation. In this paper, I will compare and contrast Sonnet 17 and Sonnet 55 and thoroughly examine Shakespeare’s changing preservation ideology.
Shakespeare examines love in two different ways in Sonnets 116 and 130. In the first, love is treated in its most ideal form as an uncompromising force (indeed, as the greatest force in the universe); in the latter sonnet, Shakespeare treats love from a more practical aspect: it is viewed simply and realistically without ornament. Yet both sonnets are justifiable in and of themselves, for neither misrepresents love or speaks of it slightingly. Indeed, Shakespeare illustrates two qualities of love in the two sonnets: its potential and its objectivity. This paper will compare and contrast the two sonnets by Shakespeare and show how they represent two different attitudes to love.
He accepts her essentially, because of her mediocracy. At times, he is outraged by her additional lovers, but he still is wrapped around her finger. He blames himself for staying with her even though the relationship is toxic and copes with her infidelity. Shakespeare turns the traditional feeling of a love sonnet to that of hatred, resentment, and lust. It seems more in line with the reality and harshness of falling in love, as opposed to the traditional googly-eyed admiration of a lover. Since Shakespeare avoids this fictional theme, he gives readers a good reason to believe his Sonnets may actually be true.
A sonnet is a poem of fourteen lines that rhyme in a particular pattern. William Shakespeare’s sonnets were the only non-dramatic poetry that he wrote. Shakespeare used sonnets within some of his plays, but his sonnets are best known as a series of one hundred and fifty-four poems. The series of one hundred and fifty-four poems tell a story about a young aristocrat and a mysterious mistress. Many people have analyzed and contemplated about the significance of these “lovers”. After analysis of the content of both the “young man” sonnets and the “dark lady sonnets”, it is clear that the poet, Shakespeare, has a great love for the young man and only lusts after his mistress.