(Sonnet 116's couple may not be all that they seem)
Sonnet 116: A Dispute with Love
“Let me not to the marriage of true minds, admit
impediments” opens one of Shakespeare’s most iconic poems: sonnet 116. For centuries read
as a declaration of true and everlasting love – this sonnet has been used at
weddings and funerals to celebrate and/or commemorate that shared love. And
although, that interpretation maintains strong today, there is another interpretation
that may stop wedding planners in their tracks. A deep reading of
diction, rhetoric, and meter suggest an indignant narrator and the subversion
of a tradition of idealized and unattainable romance – thus contradicting
centuries of optimistic interpretation.
Contextualizing the Sonnet
An effortless reading of sonnet 116 can confirm to the
reader a message of ideal love – a love to inspire and aspire to – a love that
teaches us to push through love’s obstacles “even to the edge of doom”.
However, a closer look into Shakespeare’s diction can offer a different perspective.
In following Shakespeare’s iambic tradition, the stress on the first foot deliberately
falls upon “me” suggesting that the narrator is speaking to another person as
opposed to a mere philosophical meditation – a conversation that is arguably contentious; essentially saying "let me not," "like you have." Helen Vendler, in her essay “Shakespeare’s Sonnets: Readingfor Difference,” asserts that the “strange proliferation of
negatives…is a normal sign of a rebuttal” and that “any short poem with four nots, two nevers, two nos, and one nor is refuting something” (38). Why
would Shakespeare describe love in terms of what it is not? Shakespeare use of
polyptotons in “alters…alternations,” “remove…. remover,” and “love is… not
love” exemplifies a contentious narrator at odds with another. A narrator who
will not “admit impediments” furthermore suggesting that the narrator does, in
fact, know of impediments to admit. Jane Roessner, another Shakespearen scholar, argues on behalf of a narrator in denial of love’s
imperfect practice. While Vendler, in turn, finds a narrator that is bitter and
angry at love’s injustice. Instead of depicting a declaration and/or definition
of “true love,” Shakespeare’s masterful use of diction, rhetoric, and meter sets
up an angry contentious rebuttal; a rebuttal that asserts idealized love in an
obvious inconsistent and unfaithful world.
How has it been used?
Various media interpretations of sonnet 116 embrace either interpretation - indicitave of the sonnet's contrasting viewpoints. In a short 3 minute recitation, The Sonnet Project depicts a couple standing underneath an umbrella in the midst of a rainstorm - thus suggesting that despite what life throws at them, they'll be protected together under their umbrella of love. However, in the 1995 film version of Sense and Sensibility, Austen
fans and Shakespeare lovers unite in the dramatized encounter between Marianne Dashwood
and Mr. Willoughby in which they recite the 116th sonnet together - a recitation that is, perhaps, more accurate in it's depiction of the narrator and their relationship with their lover. In
the moment, the sonnet represents their falling in love (complimenting
Marianne’s heightened sense of romanticism); however, their relationship “alter[ed]
when it alteration [found] and met a tragic end. The poem, in hindsight, foreshadows
the love that could not withstand the tempests. The crying and depressed
Marianne re-recites the poem to herself outside Willoughby’s home – true to
Vendler’s interpretation – as someone scorned by a lover and grappling to
understand the nature of love.
How Does it Compare?
This sonnet is not unlike other Shakespearean
sonnets. Similar to 130,
this sonnet likewise subverts a romantic tradition – although in opposite ways.
Sonnet 130 uses the imperfections of his lover to describe their true love; while
sonnet 116 uses idealistic standards of love to combat their lover’s
imperfections. Each poem perverting
expectations and using juxtaposition to introduce new perspectives on love – in a form contrary to society's standards of love and beauty.
Conclusion
When prompted, my roommate Elisha told me that sonnet 116 is
about how imperfect people try to love perfectly – and perhaps that’s how we’ve
read Shakespeare. For centuries we’ve interpreted sonnet 116 as the sort of
love to achieve – and while it paints a picture of love that is both
inspirational and admired - it is expressed by a contentious, indignant, and ranting
narrator. Therefore, the next time you scroll through Shakespearegeek’s posts and he suggests 116 for
your wedding playlist – remember that sonnet 116 is a narrative of two lovers
with different fundamental ideas on how to love one another.
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