Several critics have argued that William Shakespeare's Sonnet 29 refers to the biblical story of Job. In the book of Job, one can see several similarities that parallel the story told in Sonnet 29. Both stories begin with the idea of being wealthy in the materialistic aspects of life, which then dissolve to nothing. While reading the sonnet in a way that is relative to Job's story, one may interpret the poem in a different way. In Sonnet 29 and in the book of Job, we see parallel circumstances that help critics argue the influence of Job's story in Shakespeare's sonnet.
             In Shakespeare's writing, one can see that a parallel is drawn with Job in the Old Testament and the speaker in Sonnet 29. In reading both stories, both characters derived from a rich background they began with wealth, or developed wealth, but then also lost their wealth and were faced with harsh circumstances. As the speaker of the sonnet begins to mourn his misfortune, he states "And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries..." This line shows that heaven or God, is deaf to the cries of the speaker, similarly we see that Job infers the same thing. Job cries out to God but does not feel that God will answer him, he states, "...be so kind as to look at me." This shows that he believes that God will not even spare him a glance, showing that he believes heaven has fallen deaf to his mourns as well. The speaker in Sonnet 29 also states, "And look upon myself and curse my fate." This shows that he curses his life, and curses his fate, again, this mirrors Job. As Job felt betrayed by God he states, "Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, there is a man child conceived. Let that day be darkness..." In this scripture, Job curses his very existence, showing how similar both the stories are. Shakespeare appears to have used Job's story to influence his poem. The man in the sonnet mirrors Job in hi...