What are the common themes in Shakespearean sonnets?

Themes in Shakespearean sonnets.




           Many important themes have been dealt by Shakespeare in his artistic works. The "time" is one of them.


  • Effect of time
            In general, Shakespeare dealt with idea of time and its adverse effect on the man, his life and poetic collection. Therefore, in the sonnet-18, the poet laments the possible effect of the time and destruction of the fair youth's beauty.
  • Platonic love
            Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets as a whole. 126 sonnets were addressed to the faith youth, 26 were dedicated to the dark lady and remaining were of the conventional type. The lack of explicit sexual expression in the sonnets for the fair youth has led many critics to characterize this relation as an evident example of platonic love.
  • Religious references
            Shakespeare inferred many important sources from holy scriptures. In sonnet-18 Shakespeare continues the theme of man's spiritual renewal explored in sonnet 15,16 and 17.

  • The concept of love and beauty
            The issue of beauty and love in Shakespeare seems to have been influenced by the Greek philosophy, however quite different from keat's philosophy of "beauty is truth and truth beauty" or a "thing of beauty joy for ever".
  • Concept of immortality 
           Sonnet-18 is symbolic of "immortality". The sonnet is a classic expression as it is. Perhaps the best and effective way of making the poet's beloved's beauty immortal, everlasting and eternal.

            Though the poet knows that nothing is permanent in this universe he successfully immortalized his "love".

Shakespearean English in the context.

  • Thee - her/him
  • Thou - you/she/he
  • Hath - has
  • Grow'st -grows 

Location: Galle, Sri Lanka

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