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Shakespeare's Rebuttal to Possibilities in Sonnet 96 Essay

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Shakespeare's Rebuttal to Possibilities in Sonnet 96

Shakespeare's apostrophic "Sonnet 96," one of the sonnets written to the blond young man, is arranged similar to a rebuttal in an argument or debate." In the first three quatrains, he describes several possibilities, such as the youth's winning nature and potential for mischief, only to refute them in the couplet." He begins with concise one-line points in the first quatrain, moves to a comparison utilizing the entire quatrain in the second, and transitions to two-line arguments in the final quatrain, evoking the idea of a logical, organized argument." Along with reason, however, are the romantic tones of the couplet, which refutes the statements made in the …show more content…

The second quatrain adjusts from end-stopped lines to enjambed lines, with each idea occupying two lines, and the comparison of royalty's humble jewels to the young man's slight faults encompassing the entire quatrain." The quatrain becomes less like a simple argument and more like a well-developed line of reasoning as the ideas in the first and third lines spill over to the second and fourth." Shakespeare contrasts the concept that "[t]he basest jewel will be well esteem'd" (6) by association on the hand of royalty as errors the young man commits are "[t]o truths translated" (8)." Although the technical pronunciation of "translated" puts the stress on the second syllable, many people commonly stress the first syllable, which creates a trochee in the second foot of line eight." The change from iambic to trochaic emphasizes the change from error to truth in the opinion of those who know the blond young man.

The third quatrain differs again from the style of the second, shifting from enjambed lines two end-stopped lines." However, the end-stop is not as forceful as in the first quatrain, with each complete thought covering two lines, rather than one." As with the first quatrain, Shakespeare uses parallel structure to make his point apparent." He compares the full force of the young

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