Love in Shakespeare's Sonnets
Shakespeare's love sonnets describe three different contexts in which love operates, as such, he depicts a multi-faceted picture of love. Love in Shakespeare's poems does not have a single definition, but rather, an intangible conglomeration of characteristics that, together, make up an ever powerful force that defeats all obstacles. In Shakespeare's love Sonnets numbers 116, 130, and 147, love is depicted as an overwhelming force that triumphs over time, the physical world, and reason, respectively. The force of love overpowers Shakespeare's era's cultural ideals of physical beauty in sonnet 130. In poem number 147, the speaker's reasonable mind is overridden by emotions which arise from his love and desire for his absent partner. Finally, in sonnet 116, love is given an identity as an immortal force, which overcomes age, death, and thus, time. On another level, these three sonnets can be seen as describing the three different identities of love (Rowse, Shakespeare's Sonnets 46). Love can be seen as an internally possessed force which is directed within oneself; love can be an internal force which is directed against external factors, or love can be an external force, operating independently, regardless of the individual, and ove
rcoming other powerful external forces. As such, these sonnets create a vision of love as a dynamic and multi-relational force. Each sonnet describes a different conflict in which love is engaged. In sonnet 116, love is depicted as an invincible force that defies time as well as time's effects on beauty and youth, changes such as wrinkles and old age. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks/Within his bending sickle's compass come (Lines 9 and 10). Love, unlike the physical being, is not subject to decay. Through the capitalization of the words Love and Time, Shakespeare personifies both of these words, giving them identities, which are independent of any possessor (Angelou et al 22). Time becomes godlike, omnipotent yet abstract. Love, too, becomes a powerful character, despite remaining physically intangible. Love is presented as an entity with supernatural qualities. This identity is everlasting, immortal, and unaffected be the passing of Time, which is also eternal. In many of Shakespeare's sonnets, Time is often portrayed as the destroyer of all that is happy and beautiful, because with time, everything changes, happiness fades and what was once beautiful fades away and then dies (Brown 79). The speaker claims that his love, real love, is untouched be the cruel hand of Time. Love, he says, is an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken (Lines 5 and 6). According to Shakespeare, true Love is more permanent and powerful than Time, hence, love remains immutable despite the changes brought on by physical decay and despite changes wrought by the world, such as storms, wars and revolutions (Rowse, A Biography 67). Shakespeare further develops upon his ideas of love as a force which overcomes the restraints of physical existence in Sonnet number 130. In this poem, Shakespeare expands his definition of love to include an image of love as a force that overcomes social pressures. Shakespeare's speaker resists the conventions of his era's romantic poetry by describing his lover as an exception to all of the traditional romantic metaphors for beauty (Ballou 126). Shakespeare refutes one of his culture's most basic ideals: that of the universal standard of beauty, if snow be white, why then her breasts are dun (Line 3). Unlike other romantic poets of his time, in Sonnet 130 the speaker describes his beloved as an earthly and realistic woman. She, unlike most women in poetry, is not misrepresented. Shakespeare's speaker does not use false metaphors to describe her (Booth 84). He is able to depict her in human terms because, to the speaker, love is not based on physical beauty but rather on feelings, sensibilities, an
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Approximate Word count = 1790
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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