Communicating Love in Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare is one of his better know works of literature. This sonnet aims to define love by communicating what its is and what it is not. Shakespeare makes his point clear from the beggining of the poem: true love does not change even if there are circumstances that stand in its way. Shakespeare then goes onto define what love is by saying what it is not. Love is something that does not change even when it is confronted by tempests. It is not something that comes and goes, but rather is “not Time’s fool”, meaning that it is not subject to the passing of time. Shakespeare also compares love to a star, which sets the tone for the entire poem. The fact that he compares it to a star that guides every human being who is wandering. The star represents a mysterious and almost incomprehensible force that guides us even though we cannot pinpoint its location. Shakespeare uses imagery throughout the poem in a unique way that defines love by what it is not. By comparing love to an unchanging force such as time and mortality, and also by staking a personal claim in his statements, Shakespeare effectively communicates his opinions on love.

To start the poem, Shakespeare immediately makes an allusion to marriage. He not only mentions marriage, but also alludes to the actual marriage ceremony. In order to understand specifically what aspect of the marriage ceremony Shakespeare is referring to, the word ‘impediments’ must be defined in terms of a modern marriage ceremony. The definition of impediments is “a hindrance or obstruction in doing something”. In regards to a marriage ceremony in Shakespeare’s time, this would refer to when the time when the priest would have asked both parties involved whether or no...

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...ison to love, which helps the reader to understand the points that Shakespeare is trying to communicate. It is evident that Shakespeare believes that love is force that is unaffected by the normal aspects of life. I think that the most meaningful comparison in this sonnet that Shakespeare makes is to that of the idea that love is timeless. In an age where death would have been such a strong force society had to deal with, the fact the Shakespeare was able to provide hope for those dealing with it would have been encouraging. During the Black Plague there was many people that lost loved ones and knowing that the force of death did not affect their love for them would have helped them persevere. Also by staking a claim and providing logic to back his opinions up, Shakespeare was able to effectively communicate his thoughts on love in one of his most famous sonnets.