Sonnet 18 And Romeo And Juliet Links

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Sonnet 18 shows that love can result in you worshipping a woman's beauty. This sonnet compares the persona's loved one favourably to summer, and declares: 'thy eternal summer shall not fade'. The metaphorical reference to the lady’s beauty as an ‘eternal summer’ suggests that her beauty shall live forever, unlike summer, which is a short season and is quickly followed by the colder periods of autumn and winter. The connotations of summer are warmth, with flowers blooming and wonderful countryside; therefore the person is suggesting that there is something gloriously natural and vibrant about his loved one’s beauty. Idealisation of beauty by a love struck lover is also seen in Romeo and Juliet. In Act 3 Scene 2, Juliet is longingly waiting for Romeo, and demands of the ‘gentle night’: ‘Give me my Romeo; and, when he shall die, /Take him and cut him in little stars’. The imperative verb ‘Give’ shows the urgency of her love and desire for Romeo, whilst her belief in his beauty is shown in the instruction for him to be cut ‘out in little stars’ when he dies. This portrays Romeo’s beauty as dazzling, overwhelming bright, so much so that it could light up the huge night sky. In addition, similarly to Sonnet 18, Juliet’s words suggest that there is something eternal and everlasting about Romeo’s beautiful personality, hence the demand for him to be transformed into a star. Although Shakespeare was writing more than four hundred years ago, modern culture shows a similar idealisation of love and beauty. For example, James Blunt’s famous, best –selling song ‘You’re Beautiful’ , focuses on physical beauty, and also contains the metaphorical line’ I saw an angle’ implying that true beauty can have a spiritual dimension. So both modern culture and Shakespearean poetry share some similarities: idealising beauty in an unrealistic way
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