William Shakespeare's Warning

A detailed Summary of William Shakespeare's Warning

William Shakespeare uses "Sonnet 95" to reveal corruption of youth and beauty. More specifically, the sonnet speaks of the corruption of a young man due to his own "sins" (6) and sexual accomplishments and the glorification he earns from this. Shakespeare's diction and meter clearly reveal this twisted tale of vice's destruction of virtue. A critical analysis can evoke this tale and the warning Shakespeare makes to this beautiful young man regarding his life and promiscuous activities.

Shakespeare reveals the beauty of the young man in the first line with words "sweet" (1) and "lovely" (1), but overshadows this character with implied "shame" (1). This is not the common meaning of shame but is the sin that blossoms after premarital sexual encounters. This traditional Shakespearean (abab) rhyme scheme further implies that this becomes more than shame, but "a canker in the fragrant rose" (2). "[F]lower" (2) in this line refers to this young man's great beauty, but "canker" (2) destroys this beauty. The meaning that Shakespeare speaks of is a worm or maggot that matriculates inside and destroys the flower. The worm kills the flower from the inside out and is not discovered until the flower blooms. It can then be seen that th

The final couplet, (gg), written in iambic pentameter, serves as a warning to the elegant man. Line 13 begins the initial warning of this "privilege" (13). The privilege is the ability to transform his sexual prowess, and the distaste of this sin into praise. This privilege if "ill-used" (14) could become ineffective, and this young man could lose his charm, or "edge" (14). Shakespeare may also have intended to use a sexual pun at the end, and reveal that because of the many encounters, and the "blot" (11) transmitted to the man, he may lose his "edge" (14), (male phallic symbol) from the disease, which was most probably syphilis. Shakespeare humorously leaves it up to the reader.

e flower is destroyed, but not until the flower blossoms. The word, "spot" (3) in line 3 reinforces this image, referring to a blemish or disease inside the flower. This stain is the evil inside this young beautiful man, referred to as the "budding name" (3), which unknowingly shames him. This stain could be an internal vice or could possibly be the physical repercussions, (syphilis), of sexual promiscuity.

The irony in these 4 lines may be why stressing differentiates at this point in the sonnet. Line 6 contains a trochee in the first and second foot and line 7 has a pyrrhic in the third foot. I feel the spondee in line 8 is significant since

Some common words found in the essay are:
Shakespeare Sonnet, foot line, line 4, written iambic pentameter, spondee fourth foot, foot line 4, third foot, fourth foot line, line 8, fourth foot, spondee line, written iambic, initial spondee, critical analysis, iambic pentameter,

Approximate Word count = 910
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English