Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Shelby's Analysis of the Infamous Sonnet 129

Share it Please
Sonnet 129 is all about that which is carnal. Here, Shakespeare decries lust and exposes all the evils associated with it—how it can make people crazy and insensible and evil, yet no one can turn away from it. As far as content goes, this sonnet bears some resemblance to Sonnet 141 (yes, I had to Google that one). Both of them talk about feelings that don’t make sense, that are totally irrational, though 141 describes a lover that the speaker doesn’t seem to be really attracted to, and 129 describes unbridled, mindless passion. Both sonnets end in a volta that shows…not necessarily regret or remorse, but a recognition of the stupidity and pain that comes from such actions.


Sonnet 129 is similar to 141 in form because of the volta at the end reflects a different idea than what had preceded throughout the rest of the sonnet. Its repetition also resembles that of Sonnet 116 (“Which alters when it alteration finds”… “Is lust in action, and till action, lust”).

1 comment:

  1. I loved reading about this one - I feel like it's different than a lot of the rest because it's so negative, like you said. Not having studied Shakespeare's sonnets enough, I'm curious to hear more about Sonnet 141. You said he doesn't really seem attracted to the subject of his poem, so is he just talking about lust in general, or trying to force it for some reason, or what?

    ReplyDelete

Blogroll

About