Sonnet 138, by William Shakespeare

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(Interesting hook) William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 138 depicts the relationship of a couple, who many believe to be Shakespeare and his mistress, a woman referred to as, The Black Lady. Throughout the sonnet the vast use of imagery causes the reader to imagine the sonnet as if it were a play where the characters are covered by a mask of lies. (Put a clever transition in here) Although Sonnet 138 depicts the speakers’ willingness to settle for false love and put on a mask, Sonnet 138 depicts a relationship that its very survival is based on this deceit. Sonnet 138 illustrates that through lies characters hide themselves, which illustrates the importance of being true to yourself and not giving into mediocrity, and deciding to put on a mask to be like everyone else, which compels an individual to put on a mask and be something they are not.

Shakespeare uses the tool of paronomasia, more commonly known as puns, throughout the Sonnet 138 to demonstrate the idea of duplicity, and if one carefully analyses these puns then the truth that hides behind the mask will be understood. Shakespeare uses the word “lie” as a pun to try to subtlety show the reader what really is going on between him and the Black Lady and to emphasis how comfortable they are with each other’s constant lies that it even seems like second nature. “Lie”, can mean to deceive or to lie down, which in this case means to lay down which most likely refers to sex ;therefore by using this pun the reader now knows that he knew she slept with other man. With this pun Shakespeare demonstrates how comfortable the male protagonist in this sonnet is with the Black Lady cheating on him, furthermore this perfectly sums up their relationship, one in which both individuals are conte...

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... line because like clothes mask cover you and in this case the mask that individuals wear is one of lies. Your hiding who you are really by wearing a mask essentially becoming another person. On line 12 if one looks at this line in more detail then one can see that this line refers to the theme saying that in this relationship they don’t want to be told the truth, just as the person does not want to be unmasked to truly see who they are, and it is the inability to remove tour mask that makes you mediocre. The masks the characters wear help them transform and forget about their faults and not deal with tings make you mediocre.

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Works Cited

"subtle, adj.". OED Online. June 2011. Oxford University Press. 12 September 2011 .

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