A TERM PAPER IN THE ENGLISH LITERATURE
I. POEM ANALYSIS: Sonnet 41 by Shakespeare
1. Persona- The poem is about a youth and her personality. The youth is identified as young and beautiful and her beauty (or pleasing personality) ---as in, “Beauteous thou art”--- makes her susceptible to temptations thus, causing him to commit sins. The persona could be the poet himself accusing a beloved girl for her mistakes in life which are really expected.
2. Addressee- The persona is addressing the poem to a woman saying that although the youth themselves commit sins, that is not because they are negligent but because in their young age, freshness, and beauty, they may easily fall into temptation or the other way around: many are tempted to them.
3. Situation- The persona is not blaming the woman’s youthfulness in this poem rather, he is blaming people and even situations that tempt the youth. He thinks that had there been no forms of allurement or pressures, the woman would be able to resist committing sins. Sometimes, what humans naturally and dearly possess are the reasons why we get into troubles.
4. Imagery/ figures of speech/symbols-
Personification- “Temptation follows thou art” is a line that uses personification.
Irony- “Thy beauty being false to me” somehow represents the opposition of two ideas: beauty and moral beauty. I define moral beauty as one’s trye personality and integrity. Beauty, it seems, when already tarnished by sin, is no longer pleasing.
Motif- The motifs in the poem are temptation and vulnerability. Temptation because the poem talks about a woman who has been unintentionally hooked into wrongdoings, and; vulnerability since, women are weak by nature. Themes- Beauty must be a well-kept possession and though it tempts, it should never be a root of evil nor unfaithfulness.
II. POEM ANALYSIS: Sonnet 40 by Shakespeare
1. Persona- The persona in the poem is a man whose love has been stolen from or deprived of him. As he tries
References: Mabillard, Amanda. "An Analysis of Shakespeare 's Sonnet 22". Shakespeare Online. 2000. http://www.shakespeare-online.com (23/October/2013). Mabillard, Amanda. An Analysis of Shakespeare 's Sonnet 58. Shakespeare Online. 2000. (23/October/2013). Retrieved from http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/58detail.html . “Shakespeare’s Sonnets”. Retrieved from http://www.shakespeares-sonnets.com/sonnet/41 (24/October/2013) “Sonnets of William Shakespeare: Sonnet 58” . Retrieved from: http://www.everypoet.com (24/October/2013)