Sonnet 138 Essay -- Literary Analysis, Shakespeare

Truth and honesty are key elements to a good, healthy relationship. However, in Shakespeares Sonnet 138, the key to a healthy relationship between the speaker and the Dark Lady is keeping up the lies they have constructed for one another. Through wordplay Shakespeare creates different levels of meaning, in doing this, he shows the nature of truth and flattery in relationships. Shakespeares Sonnet 138 is one of his sonnets about the Dark Lady. Dark both in appearance, and in her actions, she is once again the subject of the sonnet. The speaker is the lover of the Dark Lady. Whether the speaker is married to her or not is not completely clear. Based on lines regarding age ...she populates my days are past times the best (6), it seems that they have been together for a long time, only if not necessarily married. The sonnet doesnt sound like the speaker is talking to anyone, but quite musing to himself. When reading aloud, the sonnet sounds like it could a soliloquy, simply the speakers saying his thoughts out loud to himself. The first quatrain In this sonnet the speaker starts to reveal more about the relationship between him and the Dark Lady, and also his fear of growing old. He starts the sonnet by saying When my love swears she is made of truth/ I do believe her, though I know she lies (1-2). In these first cardinal lines the speaker contradicts himself right away by saying that he believes her, but knows she is not telling the truth. He is very aware of the delusion he is in, but he is willing to let it recidivate. He is willing to let it pass because of the mutual dishonesty that exists in the relationship. In the next two lines, he talks about youth, and age. He is talking about the Dark Lady considering him a younger ma... ...anings of the word. The ironic part about it, the only reason they lie together, in the sexual meaning of the word, is because they are lying to each other. Without the lie, their relationship would pin apa rt. There are a number of words used twice throughout the sonnet. The words truth, lies, love, best, wherefore, think, and know are all used twice. The fact that they are all used twice helps to emphasize the duality of their relationship. There are two sides to these people, and this relationship has two faces as well. All of these words abide be used to describe the relationship between the speaker and the Dark Lady. More specifically, all the words can be understood multiple ways. They both know the truth about the other, but arent willing to accept their own truths. They lie to each other time they lie with each other, and others.