Shakespeare s sonnet deals with his redefinition of certain terms. Throughout this sonnet Shakespeare refers to beauty as an everlasting internal component. He is mocking this belief that many people have. In doing this he makes certain analogies that can be taken to have more than one meaning.
I will analyze each aspect of Shakespeare s sonnet to support my thesis. Shakespeare begins the sonnet by posing a question. This is the first example of redefinition in this sonnet. One could understand being compared to a summer s day as a negative comment. Some consider the summer to be hot and dreadful.
The heat causes people to feel uncomfortable. The intensive heat further illuminates fowl odors. On the other hand there are some people who may have the opposite thoughts about the summer. In posing such a question Shakespeare is mocking those who take the comparison to a summer s day to be a positive comment.
After summer all things in nature tend to die out. The leaves begin to change color and deteriorate, the weather begins to get colder, and many animals go into hibernation. Shakespeare tries to emphasize his point that being compared to a summer s day is not an acceptable comment by breaking the chronology of nature. He interrupts the comparison with the summer by mentioning the rough winds of May. This further illustrates that Shakespeare does not expect his comments to be understood as they are written. He states that the summer does not last long enough.
Essay on Shakespeares Sonnet 18
William Shakespeare?s Sonnet 18 is part of a group of 126 sonnets Shakespeare wrote that are addressed to a young man of great beauty and promise. In this group of sonnets, the speaker urges the young man to marry and perpetuate his virtues through children, and warns him about the destructive power of time, age, and moral weakness. Sonnet 18 focuses on the beauty of the young man, and how beauty ...
The summer cannot last any longer because the weather changes as the time passes on. The gold complexion are dimmed because the sun must set in order for there to be night. Shakespeare states that every fair from fair sometimes declines. This is not true because all women will eventually lose their good looks. This does not occur by chance but is a fact of life. He then states that ones eternal beauty does not fade.
That even death cannot hinder the beaut one possesses. This is also not true. By making the latter statement, Shakespeare negates the statement he makes about eternal beauty. Death is something that also comes upon all of us. There is no one that can escape death. He is really stating that internal beauty is nonexistent.
It is supposed to make people hopeful about getting older. To make people feel like there is still something they can hold on to until they die. In conclusion, Shakespeare states that as long as men are able to breathe and see, internal beauty lives on. This is all true to the person who believes in the concept of eternal beauty but this person must realize they will eventually die. Their meaning of beauty will not be the same as the meaning others adhere to. Just as many people may take being compared to a summer s day as being a negative or positive.
On the whole, Shakespeare is stating that people should live their lives as time passes on. They should not fool themselves by allowing themselves to see certain things that have faded away with time.
