Our+class+notes+on+THEME,+MOTIF+and+SYMBOLISM+in+sonnets

__**Sonnet 18** __

__THEME in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 __

1) What is Shakespeare trying to convey to me in this sonnet?
 * That this man is very beautiful
 * Love is infinite in beauty

2) What is the significance of what Shakespeare wrote in this sonnet? __MOTIF in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 __
 * Someone’s beauty may fade over time but once captured last forever

1) Are there objects, ideas, or concepts I have seen repeated in this sonnet/these sonnets? 2) What could that object, idea, or concept mean? 3) What could that object, idea, or concept teach me about the theme of this sonnet/these sonnets? __SYMBOLISM in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 __
 * The idea of summer is repeated throughout the sonnet
 * Appearance
 * eternity
 * Vanity
 * Eternal love
 * That beauty is highly placed in our lives
 * A beautiful face will one day be forgotten

1) Which of the symbols mentioned in your handout appear in sonnet 18? Weather and the seasons 2) Where does each symbol appear (in which line(s))? Weather- 3- Rough winds ,5 Sometime too hot ( talking about the sun), 6- Gold complexion dimmed , 9, Seasons- 1- Summer's day, 3- May ( in refernce to seasons in May), 4- Summer
 * Eternal Love
 * Summer
 * Darling buds
 * Shall I compare thee to a summers day?” he spends the remainder of the poem explaining the multiple ways in which the young man is superior to a summer days, ultimately concluding that while summer ends, the young man’s beauty lives on in the permanence of poetry.
 * Real beauty vs Cliched beauty

3) To what extent do these symbols actually represent the ideas suggested in your notes? 4) Shakespeare used symbols as a way to “heighten our experience of the poems” by giving us images we can use to understand his significant ideas. Which of these symbols do you think are effective in this way?
 * First line (“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” this represents the season of summer, because Shakespeare started with a rhetorical question that stated the season of summer.
 * “When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st” This shows the symbol of eternal love, how he would never leave her and that he loves her no matter what.
 * In the notes provided these symbols were expressed with in depth perception with each statement followed by an explanatory quote from the sonnet.


 * The most effective symbol that helped us to understand ideas is summer. This is because summer is often associated with heat, passion, and beauty and summer romance. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day”.

Black (Stevie,dom,grace) __**Sonnet 57 **__

__THEME in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 57 __

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">1) What is Shakespeare trying to convey to me in this sonnet?

Being blindingly in love alters perceptions, and can make the lover into a slave, sometimes unbeknownest to the lover himself. Although the speaker in Shakespeare's sonnets does reaalise he has been made a slave, the compulsive force of love counteracts, and indeed overpowers, any desire to escape.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">2) What is the significance of what Shakespeare wrote in this sonnet?

It is significant in showing how overwhelming the force of love can be, and how terrible the results of this overpowerment can be.

__<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">MOTIF in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 57 __

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">1) Are there objects, ideas, or concepts I have seen repeated in this sonnet/these sonnets?

The sonnet repeatedly refers to the speaker being a slave to his love, his master.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">2) What could that object, idea, or concept mean?

It shows the intense bias of power in the speaker's relationship - how one member absolutely ruled the other.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">3) What could that object, idea, or concept teach me about the theme of this sonnet/these sonnets?

By showing how biased an imperfect relationship is, showing that love isn't perfect, and the reality of reality.

__<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">SYMBOLISM in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 57 __

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">1) Which of the symbols mentioned in your handout appear in sonnet 57?

None of those on the handout. The slave and master relationship was the clearest symbol in the text.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">2) Where does each symbol appear (in which line(s))?

The slave and master relationship is mentioned specifically in Lines 1, 6, 8, and 11.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">3) To what extent do these symbols actually represent the ideas suggested in your notes?

To quite a decent extent.

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">4) Shakespeare used symbols as a way to “heighten our experience of the poems” by giving us images we can use to understand his significant ideas. Which of these symbols do you think are effective in this way?

The slave and master relationship provides a very clear insight into working of the relationship in the text, and this is very effective in the advancement of the audience's understanding.

If it's in green it's mine. -Josh


 * Theme in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 57 **


 * 1) 1. __ What is Shakespeare trying to convey to me in this sonnet? __

Shakespeare is trying to convey that love can make such a fool of us that we can have no ill feelings towards a significant other, or we can ignore the signs of a bad or neglected relationship when we are in love.


 * 1) 2. __ What is the significance of what Shakespeare wrote in this sonnet? __

This is significant because still in today’s society, some people feel as though they are neglected or alone in relationships.


 * MOTIF in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 57 **


 * 1) 3. __ Are there objects, ideas, or concepts I have seen repeated in this sonnet? __

The idea of time is repeated throughout Sonnet 57. The poet speaks of how he has to wait for hours for his lover in the beginning e.g. “What should I do but tend Upon the hours, and times of your desire?” He also speaks about how he has “no precious time at all to spend,” and also how he “watches the clock” for his lover.
 * 1) 4. __ What could that object, idea, or concept mean? __

This idea could mean that due to the age gap between the two, the poet must be patient and wait for the time when the fair youth desires the poet and the poet must ultimately wait for that time.


 * 1) 5. __ What could that object, idea, or concept teach me about the theme of this sonnet? __

The idea of time suggests to me that Shakespeare is the ‘slave’ in the relationship who ‘serves’ his master. He emphasises that he is devoted to his master, which teaches me that the theme revolves around how people can be blinded by love and feel as though they are a slave of their significant other.


 * SYMBOLISM in Shakespeare’s Sonnet 57 **


 * 1) 6. __ Which symbols appear in sonnet 57? __

The clock.


 * 1) 7. __ Where does the symbol appear (in which line(s))? __

Line 6.


 * 1) 8. __ To what extent does the symbol actually represent the ideas suggested in your notes? __

The symbol of the clock supports my previous notes because the clock represents the hours that the poet waits for his lover. In the line, “Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you,” implies again that the poet feels as though he is a slave the fair youth, as the fair youth can do whatever he wants for as long as he wants, while the poet sits and waits for him.


 * 1) 9. __ How do you think this symbol is effective in this way? __

I think the symbol of the clock is effective in the way that it helps us to understand Shakespeare’s significant idea of how people can be blinded by love, so much that they spend hours and even years in relationships, even though they may feel neglected or unloved.

Mulenga Banda (blue)