Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Sonnet 116

In this short poem, Shakespeare is describing true love and marriage. Shakespeare also states that within a relationship, one can not change another but "alter" to make different without changing into something else. One must work on their own flaws in order to make a relationship last (become a better person). Especially when referring to marriage. Do you agree or disagree w/ the meaning of "alter" in Shakespeare's poem "Sonnet116?"

3 comments:

  1. sorry for such small words! wasn't intentionally

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  2. I disagree with you I think "...love is not love/which alters when it alteration finds" (2-3) means that the love you have for your significant other(in this case a husband or wife) doesnt change even if that significant other changes.

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  3. I guess another way to approach this is to look up the word "alter" in the Oxford English Dictionary in order to see if there are any alternative meanings.
    But here I must second Patricia's observation as love is the subject of the sentence in these two lines: "...love is not love/ Which alters when it alteration finds" (Shakespeare 2-3). Therefore, it refers to love.

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