Exploring Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18- A Study of Love Time and Immortality

Exploring Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18- A Study of Love Time and Immortality

It is crucial to understand that Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116 tries to describe love by telling both sides what it is not and what it is. In the first quatrain, the persona posits that love, “the marriage of true minds,” is both unchanging and perfect. In this case, it suffices to maintain that this paper will explore the subject of the Sonnet, its structure, diction, and imagery. Also, the paper will explore the tone, which is the speaker’s attitude on the subject, and the philosophical stand of the speaker.

Foremost, the subject in this Sonnet is love, just as is often the case with many others of his sonnets. In this poem, he talks of the constancy and the permanency of love. In the Sonnet, he talks of how love does not change not even because of circumstances. In the poem, the speaker says, “…that looks on tempests and is never shaken” (Murphy 40). The structure of this Sonnet is that it has fourteen lines separated into three quatrains, and like other Shakespeare poems that fall under this category, it has a rhyming couplet. Also, the rhyme scheme of Sonnet 116 is abab cdcd efef gg. It has been written in the iambic pentameter. In this case, it implies that every single line has ten syllables and that in these syllables, five pairs are iambs, which have one stressed syllable and are followed by another unstressed syllable. When it comes to the notion of diction, it is vital to understand that it pertains to the linguistic choice that a writer makes to efficaciously relay an idea, a story, or a certain perspective to the audience. In this case, Shakespeare’s use of diction in Sonnet 116 helps to establish a perceptible style and voice. Also, when the speaker mentions marriage “of true minds,” it emphasizes the relationship is one that the couple involved in this marriage did with a conscious mind. Instead of simply saying it was a marriage of a man and woman, his diction implies an engagement that is not limited to the body and physical aspect but also the mind. This connection is not limited to romance but also the intellectual union. Besides, vocabulary usage has been used to relay to the audience the complex nature of this kind of marriage.

Further, in Sonnet 116, the speaker uses numerous potent examples of visual imagery to portray the quality of love. In the poem, the speaker says, “an ever-fixed mark / That looks on tempests and is never shaken,” a “star to every wandering bark,” and he refers to love’s “rosy lips and cheeks” alongside time’s own “bending sickle” (Murphy 40). Shakespeare constructs love as a theme through powerful depiction of imagery. Through imagery, Shakespeare aids the readers to have a vivid imagination of the power of love. In the first line, for instance, when the poet says, “Let me not to the marriage of true minds” (Murphy 40), rather than using a shared representation such as the heart or the body, the poet uses the mind to relay his idea to the audience.  In this case, he intends for the readers to connect true love with its harmony in the mind, not hormonal urges.

Lastly, the tone in Sonnet 116 is certain, calm, and steadfast. From the tone, it is clear that the poet is sure of what he is talking about pertaining to the notion of love. Also, from the Sonnet, it is clear that Shakespeare’s understanding of love is an output of the affection that is harbored in humans, condemned to fail alongside the ones who endear to high importance.

Works Cited

Murphy, Garry N. “Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116.” The Explicator 39.1 (1980): 39-41.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

Shakespeare’s 116thSonnet

Pre-writing

Read the passage closely and analyze its details. Write notes and ideas in order to prepare you for the formal essay. Your pre-writing responses do not need to be in complete sentences.

Exploring Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18- A Study of Love Time and Immortality

Identify the subject of the sonnetConsider the sonnet’s structureNote the sonnet’s diction and imageryIdentify the sonnet’s tone (What is the speaker’s attitude toward the subject?)Consider the speaker’s philosophical stand
Based on your pre-writing, write and submit an essay:

Shakespeare illustrates his own understanding of love in the sonnet above. What is Shakespeare’s definition of love? Use your pre-writing response to support your ideas in the essay. Be careful. You do not want to make your essay a summary of the work or a personal narrative of your own. You may include your personal insights and you may refer to other literary works, but the focus should be on the ideas and experiences as suggested by Shakespeare’s sonnet.
In your formal essay, please:

refer to the author and title of the work early in the essay that your audience is educated and that they have not read the present a clear thesis choose an organizational plan appropriate to your ideas aspects of the sonnet identified in your prewriting as support include concrete supporting details (i.e., literary concepts and specific references to the text)cite each quotation and paraphrase using MLA Style