preview

The William Shakespeare

Decent Essays

William Shakespeare devotes the major part of his sonnet sequence to a young man and the rest are devoted to a woman. The language Shakespeare used to describe his love toward these two persons is totally different. In the sonnet sequence, his love toward the young man can be described as the compassionate love. At the same time, one could characterize his love toward the lady as an example of passionate love. Shakespeare expresses his non-sexual love to the young man in his sonnets. He respects the young man and never thinks of controlling him. He praises the young’s beauty but without sexual imagery. For example, in the sonnet 18, Shakespeare compares the beauty of the young man with the summer days. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Then, the next line, he concludes that the young man is different from the summer days as the young man is more love and more temperate. “Thou art more lovely and more temperate:” Besides, he even tries to convince the young man to get married and get a child to preserve his beauty. This can be seen at sonnet 16, "With virtuous wish would bear you living flowers, / Much liker than your painted counterfeit:" On the other hand, Shakespeare expresses an erotic love with the dark lady, involving intense feelings and sexual attraction. For example, in sonnet 135, line 5: "Wilt thou, whose will is large and spacious,” and line 6: “ Not once vouchsafe to hide my will in thine," Shakespeare expresses his sexual desires with the dark

Get Access