Shakespeare’s SONNET 130 William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 draws attention to the pattern of change and questioning spirit of the Renaissance by presenting a perception of love that challenges traditional conventions. This is a common trait of Shakespeare’s later sonnets. Rather than using Petrarchan concepts to present an idealised version of romantic love, Shakespeare deliberately opposes the traditional form. In doing so he casts a mature, more realistic outlook on relationships. The beloved in Sonnet 130 is described in an unappealing manner, and yet, because of his honest depiction of her the poet-speaker considers his love to be true.
The themes are similar yet different. One theme says that as long the poem is still “alive” then so is she and the other is appearance isn’t everything. The two poems “Sonnet 147” and “Sonnet 18” by Shakespeare both express a love but there is a difference between the ways the speaker describes the love in both poems. In Sonnet 147 the speaker describes the love to be a burden, and suffering. It is clear appearance isn’t everything.
But Shakespeare ends the sonnet by proclaiming his love for his mistress despite her lack of adornment, so he does finally embrace the fundamental theme in Petrarch's sonnets: total and consuming love. The rhetorical structure of Sonnet 130 is important to its effect. In the first quatrain, the speaker spends one line on each comparison between his mistress and something else (the sun, coral, snow, and wires—the one positive thing in the whole poem some part of his mistress is like. In the second and third quatrains, he expands the descriptions to occupy two lines each, so that roses/cheeks, perfume/breath, music/voice, and goddess/mistress each receive a pair of prevents the poem—which does, after all, rely on a single kind of joke for its first twelve lines—from becoming stagnant. Focus: Shakespeare begins his poem to the dark lady with no compliments about the dark lady.
In 'Sonnet 116', Shakespeare presents his ideas about what love is, with reference to romantic love. We can deduce that he writes of romantic love through the phrase "Let me not... admit impediments", which is reminiscent of marriage vows. Shakespeare outlines his definition of love through a series of images, which is developed through his use of the sonnet form. First of all, Shakespeare believes that love in its truest sense is unchanging. He writes, "love is not love / Which alters when it alteration finds".
In this sonnet, William Shakespeare talks about a loved one, who he compares to things that are, suppose to be beautiful. His comparison gives the reader a good idea on what his lover looks like. The real side of his lover and not what is usually stated in sonnets about a loved one. What he is trying say is that love doesn’t have to be excessive and extravagant, it’s the simple things that the heart truly beats for. He realizes that his mistress is not perfect but despite this he is able to accept her for who she is, and come to love her.
While the poetic devices and techniques used by Shakespeare creates secondary themes of physical appearance, women, femininity, literature and writing, the main overarching theme of his sonnets is love, be that for the dark lady or the young man. Shakespeare uses powerful imagery in Sonnet 130 to portray the object of his affection in a negative light, even though the concluding couplet betrays his true feelings for the dark woman despite this imagery (Leonard). The images used in this sonnet were very powerful and relevant to a largely European audience, of the 16th and 17th
Write about the different ways in which Shakespeare presents love in Acts One and Two of King Lear In more ways than others Shakespeare presents love as a necessary transaction between people, especially within family. In King Lear, love seems to be portrayed as something which can be used to manipulate or please someone for another person’s wishes. Furthermore, love is also used to emphasise the Machiavellian nature of certain characters, who wish to use it specifically to capitalise on some form of gain for themselves. Edmund is a prime example of this as is Goneril and Regan who both seem to bestow loving remarks towards their father only when it is for their benefit. Firstly, in Act 1, Shakespeare presents love almost like that of a business transaction between different people.
126). Sonnet twenty is a key sonnet in understanding Shakespeare’s subversion of Petrarchan conventions, as it highlights the feminine qualities of Shakespeare’s lover and praises him for his appearance. Shakespeare continues his homoerotic discourse throughout the sonnet, and as Vendler discusses, the poet-speaker believes it only natural for both sexes to love this man; drawing on traditional, socially acceptable love of a woman for this particular man, yet also the more contemporary idea of same-sex love, as exampled by the young man’s feminine appearance and the statement that women should, too, love this man (Vendler 1997, p.128). Schoenfeldt (2010, p.90) notes that this particular sonnet, sonnet twenty, shows Nature – a traditionally female character - “doting erotically on her own female creation”, and thus highlighting the almost commonplace nature of same-sex adulation of
Also, how a simple event or object can say something to us about the biggest questions in the Universe like the meaning of life or of love. (from handout) Similar way, William Shakespeare in his “sonnet 18”, John Keats in his “When I have fear” and “Amoretti: Sonnet 75” by Edmund Spenser shows their affection towards their love or morality. Here, I am trying to express or confront their grand theme and morality or love. In “Sonnet 18’, Shakespeare is illustrating his lover’s description. Throughout the Sonnet, the poet describes summer and its beauty along with its darkness to compare it to his lover but in the end realizes that his beloved is a unique piece that cannot be compared.
Romeo is a great reader of love poetry, and from the beginning we could see that his portrayal of love for Rosaline seemed that he was trying to act out what he had read about. When Juliet first meets him, she says that he ‘kisses by th’ book’, meaning that he kisses by the rules. This shows that Romeo’s kiss is proficient but lacks originality, and this is also reflected upon by his personality. When Romeo meets Juliet, Rosaline instantly vanishes from his mine, and in fact Juliet is far more than just a replacement; Romeo’s love for her is far deeper, more authentic and unique than the clichéd puppy love for Rosaline. Romeo’s love matures in course of the play, from a shallow desire to intense, profound passion.