A Wretch but for Love Shakespeare’s Sonnet 91 Essay

A Wretch but for Love: Shakespeare’s Sonnet 91 Shakespeare’s ninety-first sonnet continues to address the young man to whom he has been writing the procreation sonnets. The theme of this sonnet is the incomparable value of the young man’s love. For Shakespeare, the pleasure of the young man’s love is greater than any other pleasure. His rejection of worldly pleasures for the greater joy of love also appears to highlight a distinction Shakespeare wants to make between true wealth and poverty. In doing so, he insinuates a social criticism about the notion of what is truly valuable in this world. Shakespeare emphasizes these points through the structure of the poem, which employs repetition and chiasmus, and through diction. This†¦show more content†¦It is the tying, middle section between the first and third quatrains which both specifically address the things in which people glory. Shakespeare begins the quatrain by referencing the humours, saying that â€Å"every humor hath his adjunct pleasure/Wherein it finds a joy above the rest† (5-6). In other words, a person takes pleasure in things that are associated with his or her disposition. Unlike those people of high class and wealth who are able to boast in the things mentioned in the first quatrain, the speaker finds â€Å"these particulars are not [his] measure† (7). These particular things in which others glory, he does not. Instead, he â€Å"better[s]† (8), or â€Å"[does] better than, surpass[es], excel[s]† (OED), these other pleasures in one general thing which is the best. The speaker may not have all the material things of others, but he believes he has something much greater than worldly pleasures. The thi rd and final quatrain reveals what is the one best general thing that is better than all the other pleasures: â€Å"Thy love† (9). Shakespeare then reiterates the pleasures measured in the first stanza (only omitting â€Å"skill† (10), â€Å"their body’s force† (2), and â€Å"hounds† (4)). This repetition emphasizes the fact that the young man’s love is greater than the worldly pleasures in which men usually glory. Because the speaker has the young man’s love, he says, â€Å"of all men’s pride I boast† (12). He can boast of, or glory in, all that in which men takeShow MoreRelatedDoes Othello Meet The Standards Of A Tragic Hero?2171 Words   |  9 Pageswriters who ever lived. Students throughout the United States continue to read his sonnets and plays today. His style of writing and his use of metaphors are what truly make him a great writer. Shakespeare wrote many comedies such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mu ch Ado about Nothing, and The Taming of the Shrew. Shakespeare also wrote many tragedies such as Macbeth, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet. Many of Shakespeare’s tragedies contain a protagonist who is also a tragic hero. In order to determine whetherRead MoreEssay about Views of Love in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet6375 Words   |  26 PagesViews of Love in William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet 1. Introduction William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet has the high profile as the love-tragedy everybody knows[1]. Although it is regarded as the ideal of romantic love there are many other (quite unromantic) views represented in the play, too. In this term paper I will try to give a survey of the different views of love in Romeo and Juliet. First of all there are Romeo and Juliet, the star-crossd lovers