Uncovering Worth Unknown: The Constancy of Love in Sonnet 116 Essay

Arguably the most celebrated writer of all time, William Shakespeare became renowned for his plays and for his sonnets. These sonnets discuss everything from the importance of children to the troubles of rival poets, and take on even been divided into twain distinct subgroupsthose of the Fair Youth and those of the Dark Ladybecause of the differences between the two. However, a common theme that runs throughout nearly all of them is that of distinguish. Illustrating and exemplifying love, Shakespeares praise 116 provides a classic example of this theme, as Shakespeare both defines love and holds it up as a paragon of all things good. In Sonnet 116, or Let me not to the marriage of authorized minds, Shakespeare uses personification and metaphors to take in his idea that true love is unchanging and thus never ends.William Shakespeare, the pen of Sonnet 116, was born in April of 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. At the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, who was six years older than him, and then is recorded to have begun his acting and playwriting career in 1592 when Henry VI was first produced and performed (Branam). most(prenominal) notably writing plays much(prenominal) as Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and A Midsummer shadows Dream, Shakespeare wrote thirty-seven plays altogether, according to general consensus (Gibson). Also notable, though, were his sonnets. Shakespeare began writing his sonnets at approximately the same time as his completion of Romeo and Juliet. One such sonnet is Sonnet 116, or Let me not to the marriage of true minds, which is found in the Fair Youth section of his sonnets (Branam). Shakespeares famed Sonnet 116 opens with the phrase, Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments (Shakespeare 1-2). This byplay ... .../login.aspx?direct=true&db=lkh&AN=103331CSD12390108000259&site=lrc-plus.Gibson, Rex, ed. The Sonnets. Cambridge Cambridge University Press, 1997. Print.Krieger, Murray. Poetry as A Testamen t to Immortality. Shakespeares Poems and Sonnets. N.p. Chelsea House Publishers, 1999. 55-57. Print.Leone, Bruno, et al., eds. Readings on the Sonnets. San Diego Greenhaven Press, 1997. Print.Livingston, James. Sonnet 116. Masterplots II Poetry, rewrite Edition. Ed. Phillip K. Jason and Tracy Irons-Georges. Revised ed. N.p. Salem Press, 2002. N. pag. Literary Reference Center. Web. 6 Mar. 2012. .Vendler, Helen. The Art of Shakespeares Sonnets. Cambridge Harvard University Press, 1997. Print.