A Critical Analysis Of William :: essays research papers

In order for a poetry to be sort out as a sonnet, it must meet certain structural requirements, and praise 138, &8220When my love swears that she is made of truth, is a perfect example. Shakespeare employs the traditional rhyme dodge of the English sonnet, the poem is made up of three quatrains and a create verbally couplet, and iambic pentameter is the predominant meter. However, it would be an error to approach this poem as a traditional Shakespearean love sonnet. It is a &8216love&8217 poem in the sense that a relationship between two lovers is the central theme, but the reader is offered a somewhat unexpected viewpoint. The stylistic constraints of the sonnet form are extremely advantageous here, for they serve as a backdrop against which the poem&8217s content can be dramatically highlighted, as well as reinforcing the eventual impression that the poem describes an emotionally constraining relationship. In this essay I will investigate the tools with which Shakespeare cons tructs this unorthodox love poem.The sonnet has a definite sense of strophic development, and the frequent &8216twists&8217 in the narration necessitate a close examination of this. The sonnet begins with a &8220When clause, launching the reader on a sentence of indeterminate length and subsequently leaving us with expectation, in suspense, at the end of the line. The womanhood is emphatic she does not merely tell the truth, she is made of truth. Both the reputation of this truth, and the reason for her swearing it, are unknown to the reader. The immediate thought is that the speaker system has challenged her in some mode, and whether or not this is correct, it is certainly an unconventional way to begin a love poem.The second line, &8220I do look at her, though I know she lies, introduces the reader to the wry humour that is an heavy feature of this sonnet. The humour is produced by the comic contradiction between superficial behaviour (since the speaker&8217s thought in her words is a reaction to her speech and thus a social act) and inward his familiarity that she is lying. The narrator&8217s calm tone evokes confusion he is not angry with the woman, nor does he seem at all embarrassed to imbibe such an illogical statement. The fact that he states &8220I do recollect her, rather than simply &8220I believe her, combined with the caesura that follows this statement, serves to reinforce his belief in the eyes of the reader, though his reasons for this are as yet unclear.