William Shakespeare Tropes

When a conversation involving William Shakespeare arises, it is almost certain that one of his two, arguably, most famous lines are mentioned; “Romeo, Romeo, where for art tho Romeo? and “To be or not to be, that is the question” (CITATION). Over Shakespeare’s life, he wrote countless means of literature, some better known than others, but each using traditional forms of literary techniques to some degree. Within his 18th Sonnet, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Shakespeare strategically uses countless literary devices, including various tropes and schemes, in addition to the structure of the poem, to his advantage in order to emphasize the theme of beauty and the common experience of falling in love. In this essay, I will describe
Among the more commonly used tropes in general literature, including for Shakespeare himself, are metaphors, personification, and hyperboles. In “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Shakespeare uses the metaphor in a more untraditional way. He chooses to twist the classical device and make his entire sonnet a metaphor comparing his beloved, whoever he or she may be, to the summer. Although this may seem obvious based on the opening line of the sonnet, upon further reading, we learn significantly more information about summer than about his beloved. It is unclear why this may be, but it can be argued that Shakespeare is unable to describe his love accurately and feels as though he needs to use an extended metaphor to assist the reader in fully understanding the depth and intensity of his love. Further, personification is used to give human qualities to an inanimate or non-human object and evokes the reader’s emotions to something that he or she may not typically feel these feelings towards, similar to the ways in which he uses metaphors to personify nature. He expresses that the sun is “the eye of heaven” and has a “gold complexion” (CITATION). By describing summer as having human-like qualities, it provides the reader with similar feelings towards summer that the speaker of the sonnet, or Shakespeare himself, feels towards the person he loves. Finally, in literature, as well
However, Shakespeare effectively includes several of these literary devices within Sonnet 18. Comparing and contrasting is a common method in every type of literature, and there are many technical terms to describe this juxtaposition. Shakespeare chooses to use antithesis within his sonnet, which is presenting opposite ideas within the same sentence. He compares the idea that sometimes the sun, or “the eye of heaven” shines, but often its appearance, or “his gold complexion” is dim within a single sentence (CITATION). Along with personifying the sun as previously mentioned, Shakespeare explains that the sun, as well has his beloved, is not always bright and the beauty of both must eventually come to an end. By comparing his love to a tangible and well-known object, he attempts to assist the reader in understanding the speaker’s emotions. In addition, the repetition of words is a common device taught at the most basic poetry analysis level. As the complexity of education increases, so does the idea of repetition. Shakespeare chooses to not simply repeat words, but also ideas and sounds within his sonnet. He, on several occasions, repeats the same or similar phrases within two consecutive lines, the technical term for this being anaphora. These lines include expressions that simply open with “and” or “nor,”