An Analysis Of Shakespeares Sonnet 116
Sonnet 116 is a testament to the steadfastness and perfect nature of true love. The sonnet was written by William Shakespeare, along with 153 other sonnets. They are connected vaguely by three categories: a young man, a dark lady, and classical Greek poems. There is no real proof that any of the sonnets are based on Shakespeare's life, but some correlations have been made.
Sonnet 116 is a poem about true love. T.G. Tucker explains that the first two lines of Sonnet 116 are an allusion to the words "If any of you know cause of just reason why these two persons should not be joined together by holy matrimony" of the Marriage Service. The beginning of the poem reveals the pleasure Shakespeare has in the fact the love is constant and strong, and will not alter. The next lines describe love as an "ever-fixed mark" which can survive anything, even the unfaithfulness of the lovers. The author states that love's worth cannot be measured. He closes the poem with the statement that if he is wrong about what he thinks about love, then he must take back all of his writings about love, and no man have ever been in true love.
Shakespearean sonnets are based off of the Italian Petrarchan sonnets. The Petrarchan sonnet is divided into two clear parts, an opening octet and a closing sectet, with a fixed rhyme scheme of "abbaabba cdecde". However, the Shakespearean sonnet can sometimes be divided into three parts of four lines each, and a closing of two lines with a different rhyme scheme.
The one theme that seems to be constant in all of the sonnets is love. Whether it is the absence, the presence, the failure of, or the beginning of, it always seems to contain love. However, sonnets 1 to 126 seem to address or concern a young man, sonnets 127 to 152 involve a woman with dark hair and features, and sonnets 153 and 154 are based upon classic Greek poems. The three categories the sonnets fall into can sometimes be...
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