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 overcoming 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 beco...

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Love in Shakespeare's Sonnets. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 02:23, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/100078.html