Shakespeares Exploration in Sonnet 2 of the Themes of Age...

Shakespeares Exploration in Sonnet 2 of the Themes of Age and Beauty  · Look closely at effects of language, imagery and handling of the sonnet form. * Comment on ways in which the poem’s methods and concerns are characteristic of other Shakespeare sonnets you have studied. The second of Shakespeare’s sonnets conveys an argument the poet is making somewhat implicitly to a subject whose identity is hazy and unknown to the reader, even in retrospect. The simplified argument is an attempt by Shakespeare to persuade his subject to produce an heir and therefore retain his beauty through his child, to avoid wasting such beauty. The opening quatrain through use of imagery focuses on the†¦show more content†¦Beauty is conveyed through natural words such as ‘field’, which suggests smoothness seems to contrast with the military imagery roughness of trenches. The poet further emphasises the beauty of his subject’s youth through splendid words such as ‘livery’ and ‘proud’, which are characteristic of a contrast with time’s negative implications and eventual affects. The use of the comma on line 3 has the effect of creating an anticipatory pause – preparing the reader for a comparison between the present, where his subject is admired by all (‘so gaz’d on’ reflects this), and the future. Further contrast is created through the repeated use of natural imagery, although the effect of this in its negative sense – the image of a ‘tatter’d weed’ - refers back to the sense of time’s physical effec t. The second comma use seems to emphasise - through creating a pause, which draws the reader’s attention to the words following -Shakespeare’s point, and the idea that his subject will be ‘of small worth held’ is in direct opposition to ‘so gaz’d on’. Such oppositions help create the sense that an argument is in process. The following two lines describe the literal idea of his subject being asked what has happened to his subject’s beauty after it has been eroded by time. This concept may be familiar to the reader through its gossipy tone; and specifically the questioning andShow MoreRelatedShakespeare s Twelfth Night ( C. 1600-01 )2907 Words   |  12 Pagesphysical features and beauty and obedience, quietude, sexual chastity, piety, humility, fidelity, patience etc. were the standardised attributes that were expected to be possessed by the â€Å"virtuous† women. Women who did not emulate these conventions were regarded as objects of criticism by the male dominated society and this, being a social reality was not only reflected in Shakespeare’s but also in the plays of other dramatists of the Renaissance period. For example, in Shakespeare’s `Taming of the Shrew`Read MoreElizabethan Era11072 Words   |  45 PagesElizabethan Age is the time period associated with the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603) and is often considered to be a golden age in English history. It was an age considered to be the height of the English Renaissance, and saw the full flowering of English literature and English poetry. In Elizabethan theater, William Shakespeare, among others, composed and staged plays in a variety of settings that broke away from Englands past style of plays. It was an age of expansion and exploration abroad