Historical Events and Innovations
Sonnet 116 was created and written by William Shakespeare in 1609 during the Revitalisation era, which an exciting period of cultural, political, and social transformation in Europe that commenced in Italy. In 1609 there was a royal decree that resulted in the expulsion of people who had converted to Islam. These people, who continued to practice their ancient faith in the Catholic churches of Moriscos, Spain, suffered eviction from their country (Marlatt, 2020).
The most prominent characteristic of this period was the escalation of different religions, which resulted in the dispersion of spiritual authority. The redistribution of political power in Europe followed these events. This reconnaissance period brought a rebirth in art and culture experienced in the existing creative works (Hennequin, 2020). They initially established sacred themes in works of arts like drama, painting, and poetry replacing them with the ideas of human concerns such as beauty, love, and honor. Authors of that time sought to create ideals in their works based on the situations they had directly experienced as objected to the earlier creations that concentrated on society's morals and knowledge acquired. In this sonnet 116, it is evident that William Shakespeare uses his experiences since the poem is different from his other sonnets.
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Themes reflected in William Shakespeare's Sonnet 116
The central theme reflected in sonnet 116 is love. Shakespeare brings forth the idea of love using different rhetorical styles. He describes love as a mental relationship, timeless, a trait that sees no wrong in the loved one and one that cannot be destroyed by any impediments or time. He uses metaphors to describe this trait as a star that guides a lost ship in the ocean. Shakespeare continues to elaborate that love is constant and endures all suffering (Shakespeare, 2015) . He states his certainty on love, and he ends the poem by saying that if what he stated was wrong, then no one has ever been in love before.
Another persistent theme in this sonnet is that of change. The sonnet clearly shows that there are changes that revolve around love, but love remains constant. Shakespeare insists that love does not change; it has the same intensity that it starts with it when two falls in love. Love endures the face of time and does not bend or sway when it encounters impediments. He compares it to a guiding star; the image of a guiding star in the sky does not change; it is at a standstill as it leads the way (Shakespeare, 2015) . This type of true love that Shakespeare describes does not fade with changes occurring as beauty changes.
William Shakespeare's Contribution to Humanities
William Shakespeare's contribution to English Literature was indispensable. He contributed immensely to the growth of The English language and vocabulary. Before the Shakespearean time, there were a lot of inconsistencies experienced in the use of the English language. Shakespeare's influential playwrights and novels contributed heavily to the standardization of English grammatical forms (Parvin and Islam, 2020). English as a language has been evolving since its development. What is now known as the 'modern English' period commenced way back before Shakespearean works of art began. However, his writings have had significant impacts on the works and creations of many other world-famous novelists, poets, and playwrights all over the world.
The awakening of the value of classical culture and literature came about as a result of Shakespeare's creative works. During the renaissance, his works served to shape the cultural and literary history of Europe and, most notably, that of Britain.
References
Hennequin, M. W. (2020). Knapp, Jeffrey. Shakespeare Only. Chicago: The U of Chicago Press, 2009. 238 pp. Kritikon Litterarum , 47 (1-2), 184-186.
Marlatt, R. (2020). Connected learning and Shakespeare: engaging students in drama teacher education. Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance , 25 (1), 103-108.
Parvin, F., & Islam, S. (2020). THE INFLUENCE OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE IN MODERN ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. European Journal of English Language Teaching .
Shakespeare, W. (2015). Sonnet 116: Let me not to the marriage of true… . Poetry Foundation. Retrieved August 13, 2020, from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45106/sonnet-116-let-me-not-to-the-marriage-of-true-minds
