In his poem, “Sonnet 116” Shakespeare presents the nature of ideal love. According to Gale Cengage Learning, the write-up was done during the Renaissance era, when there was a significant influence by the Catholic church (14). Additionally, the artists wished to create new standards of what could be regarded as good and beautiful. Although Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116” borrows from the biblical perspective, the poet redefines love by stating the minimum expectations for people who claim to be intimate.
True fondness commits that people should never endeavor to dispute. The opening line stanza states, “Let me not to the marriage…Admit impediments” (Shakespeare lines1-2). The phrase is an allusion usually used in wedding masses where the priests ask congregants to speak if they have anything against the marriage. However, the poet raises standards by remarking that no one should give a reason for two lovers to be put asunder. Intimacy should be allowed to flourish without any interference.
The nature of love is such that it remains constant amidst changing seasons. The third stanza uses the statement “an ever-fixed mark” to describe affection (Shakespeare line 5). The poet goes ahead to explain that even when calamity befalls, the lovers are not shaken. The description can be equated to the biblical verse: “believes all things…endures all things” (The Holy Bible, 1Cor. 13.7). Combatively, just as is the case of agape, the love that they share cannot be priced.
Shakespeare perceives his definitions duly suited to describe any claim that an individual may have on intimacy. He concludes that in case he is proved wrong, then “I never writ, nor no man ever loved” (Shakespeare 4.6). The poet, thus, normalizes his standards as ideal for any person who truly believes. The readers are urged to perceive love as fixed and without excuse. Once a person claims that they are committed to intimacy, then there remains no justifiable reason to withdraw the affection.
“Sonnet 116” is Shakespeare’s epitome of true love for romantic partners. Shakespeare was seeking to create new standards for his topic, which has puzzled many people. The poem borrows from the Catholic religion for weddings, introducing the human perspective for a committed romance. Although the expectations that Shakespeare provides seem demanding, he concludes that they are the basic requirements of failure to which no one should claim to love.
Works Cited
Gale Cengage Learning. A Study Guide for William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 116”. Cengage Learning, 2016
Shakespeare, William. Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Oxford Publishers, 1936.
The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with the Apocryphal/deuterocanonical Books, New Revised Standard Version, 1989.