Philosophical Themes
Philosophy is made of two Latin words which literally means Love for knowledge but a balanced view of life, after discussing statements and counter-statements on a certain topic. Apparently, Shakespeare's Sonnets may sound merely the appreciation of physical grace and the grief of betrayal by his Fair Youth (Earl of the Southampton) and his beloved Dark Lady (Marry Fitton) but if study deeply, these sonnets are the template of language, literature and love. Let's explore their philosophical values:
Time
Time goes forward. Time is a comrade for a person who is 'weary with toil' and
a foe who brings 'sullied night' to his beloved. Shakespeare considers time as
his adversary who has conspired with decay to weatherify the physical grace of
his beloved.
Death
Time has determined the mortal duration of every living and non-living objects.
Even the giant Earth will burn to ashes after five billion years. Shakespeare,
in Sonnet number 15 says that every growing thing 'holds in perfection' but for
a little moment: it starts to decay.
Immortality
Time has mortalized everything everywhere yet time will immortalize the beauty
his beloved after he wins the war with time through the sword of pen:
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.
Marriage
The early sonnets (1 - 17) are written for Shakespeare's Fair Youth in which he urges his Fair Youth to marry in order to retain his beauty through his off-springs. Physical beauty is something which is programmed to decay at time but it can be preserved through his children and they can even inherit their issues (off-springs) can further promote his physical grace till the very day.
Psychological Values
Psychology means the study of human behaviours, likes, dislikes, actions and
reactions. Shakespeare's Sonnets have the following psychological characteristics:
Feckless
Shakespeare tabulates the irresponsible behaviour of his Fair Youth and his
Dark Lady by metaphorizing the promise of 'beauteous day'. He loved both his
friend and his beloved sincerely and passionately but both of them showed
feckless towards Shakespeare and joined each other.
Mental Torture
The deceive shown by his two fellows causes mental illness and Shakespeare
crafts his grief as thus:
And yet love knows it is a greater grief
To bear love’s wrong than hate’s known injury
Love
Clarify the
difference between love and lust
Love is regarded as a spontaneous motive of attraction without reason while
lust is a temporal temptation of flesh. Love and lust are two opposite passions.
Shakespeare, in his sonnets, compares love and lust as thus:
In all external grace you have some part,
But you like none, none you, for constant heart.
In this couplet, Shakespeare advocates the pure form of love, which deeply depends on the constant heart, the heart which is constant in likes, dislikes and promises kept with his beloved.
The canker blooms have full as deep a dye
In the above mono-stich, Shakespeare sharply symbolizes lust as a wild rose, which holds a strong dye of temptation of flesh but is devoid of sweet fragrance of spiritual purity which is essential for the formation of 'love'.
Love and Time
Time is immortal and is "debating with decay" to mortalize abstract
or non-abstract ideas and objects. Love is mortal if it is adulterated with
lust. Love can only be immortalized after winning the war against time through
the sword of literature as is mentioned in the last couplet of Sonnet 15:
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new
Friendship
Friendship sees itself in its new shape in Shakespeare's sonnets. He considers him and his Fair Youth as two bodies, one soul. Yet the same soul plays with Shakespeare and takes his beloved Dark Lady away. He is deeply grieved over the mean act of his friend but:
But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end (Sonnet 30)
Source
- Lectures of Sir Mohsin Ghani
