What is the speaker's tone in "Sonnet 18?"

 

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In "Sonnet 18," Shakespeare expresses his feelings about love and the fair young man he calls his “rose”. The speaker has many complex emotions, but they all center on two things: pain and pleasure. In other words, this is a sonnet with mixed emotions. The speaker is deeply in love, but their love is painful. It gives him agony to have to leave the young man in order to spend time with nature in the country. And yet, the speaker also enjoys being away from him for a little while so that he can think about him more clearly when he’s back once again.

The speaker of "Sonnet 18" is sarcastic, cynical, and embittered. The speaker seems to be addressing a person (or perhaps a group) with whom he feels some sort of conflict. The sonnet opens with a barrage of insults and put-downs: “Shall plague or fire or falling tree reveal / New danger to keep us in awe?” This question is clearly meant as an insult, given that the speaker immediately follows it with “And thus shall man much sooner return to dust.” This first quatrain establishes a sense of distrust and antagonism between the speaker and his target. In the second quatrain, we see how bitter the speaker has become about this person or group, who he calls “an unkind’st cut of man’s invention.” Note how all three instances of cut refer to something maliciously designed against him—a betrayal from someone he thought was his friend. The third quatrain reveals more about the nature of the rift between them: It seems that this person once helped our speaker in some way but has now abandoned him: “O thou false coiner! \Why pretendest thou that thou hast not falsed me?” Here we see just how bitter and resentful the speaker is towards this person; they are no longer friends—if they ever were—and their relationship is irreparable.

Opinion of the addressee

The speaker is clearly outraged at whoever he is addressing. This person has done something to displease the speaker and has betrayed his trust. The speaker addresses his opponent as “false,” “unkind,” and a “coiner,” so the relationship between him and this person has clearly soured. We can infer that this person is male from the speaker’s use of “man” in l. 5. However, the speaker does not specify who he is addressing, so we cannot glean too much information about his opponent.

Speaker's attitude towards love and Romance

In the first quatrain, the speaker seems to be mocking the idea that there is such a thing as true love. He refers to the plague and fire as “dangers” that can keep people in awe, suggesting that such things are not actually dangerous but are only dangerous in the mind of a person who “fall[s] in love.” This is not the only bit of sarcasm we see in this sonnet. In the third quatrain, the speaker says, “Thy love is new, \And as vernal flow’rs be false in May,” mocking the idea that one’s love will last forever. Through his sarcastic tone, the speaker clearly does not believe in the existence of true love, and he does not believe that a person can find love more than once in their life.

Speaker's tone and language

The tone of the speaker’s language is bitter, sarcastic, and cynical. He is clearly mocking and insulting the person he is addressing—he calls this person a “coiner” and a “false friend,” and he insists that the person “pretend[s]” not to have falsed him. The word “pretend” is key to understanding the speaker’s tone. In this context, it is defined as “to make a false show of” something. The speaker is saying that the person he is addressing is not being sincere but is only pretending to like him (or perhaps to have liked him in the past). The word “pretend” is a double-edged sword in this poem—it not only reveals the bitterness of the speaker, but it also reveals the bitterness of his addressee.

Interpretation and meaning

This poem has long been associated with Shakespeare’s love for the woman who would become his wife, Anne Hathaway. However, many scholars now believe that this poem is not about love but about betrayal. There are actually several clues within the poem to suggest this interpretation. First, the sonnet is about “false friends,” not about love. Second, Shakespeare does not sign either of the two versions of this poem, suggesting that he did not intend them to be read as love poems. Third, the addressee in Sonnet 18 is addressed as “thou” and not “you,” which is often used to address an intimate other. This sonnet may actually be about the speaker’s hurt feelings as a result of betrayal. It may be that Shakespeare wrote this sonnet as a way to get out his anger and frustration over the fact that his friend (or perhaps his wife) had broken their promise and had not repaid him for some favor that he had done for them.

Summing up

"Sonnet 18" is a poem that exposes the speaker’s bitterness, cynicism, and sarcasm. He is addressing an opponent whom he clearly despises, and his language reveals the depths of his anger and resentment. Throughout the poem, the speaker mocks and insults his opponent, revealing his bitterness towards this person whom he once trusted. This poem is about betrayal and resentment, and it may have been written in response to a broken promise or a broken friendship.

 Poem Analysis

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare

What Does The Poem "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" Mean?

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The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is a poem by T. S. Eliot that was first published in The London Times in June of 1915, when Eliot was just 23 years old. Within this short poem, there are so many different meanings and symbols that it is almost overwhelming to understand what the poem is trying to say. The title character of the poem is named after two real people: J. Alfred Prufrock and James Hamish Hamilton. Both were fellow students at Harvard when Eliot wrote the poem—and both are mentioned in its acknowledgments section as having given him advice on it! But why would someone name a poem after three different people? The answer can be found within the meaning of “The Love Song of J Here’s what we know about this famous poem…

What is the meaning of The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?

The title is actually a sarcastic statement, since Prufrock is actually far too anxious and self-conscious to ever engage in a romantic song. In the first stanza of the poem, we learn that Prufrock is a man who is so anxious about the future and his place in society that he chooses to stay inside his home instead of engaging with people in the outside world. In the second stanza, it is revealed that Prufrock is so nervous about seeing the woman who he has been in love with since childhood that he is contemplating not even going to see her. When Prufrock is with other people, he is so concerned about what they think of him that he is unable to be himself. Outwardly, Prufrock may appear confident, but inside he is filled with anxiety and self-doubt.

What does “dressed up’ mean in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?

Prufrock is dressed up because he is wearing a formal suit and is attempting to present himself in an outwardly confident way. This could be seen as an attempt to show that he is worthy of the woman he loves, but it only serves to show that Prufrock is actually more nervous than if he weren’t wearing the suit at all.

Interpretation: Who Is Prufrock and what does the poem mean?

Although it is never explicitly stated within the poem, many scholars believe that Prufrock is an early example of a person who suffers from Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). People who suffer from SAD are often extremely anxious in social situations, so much so that they avoid socializing as much as they can. They may constantly doubt their own abilities and feel as though they are being judged or scrutinized by others. This could explain why Prufrock is so anxious in the presence of others. It could also explain his hesitance to go see his long-time love interest. Prufrock is so concerned about what this woman might think of him that he is afraid to go and see her at all. He worries that he has changed too much for the woman to love him back, or that he may embarrass himself in her presence. This could all be due to anxiety, or it could have been caused by a traumatic childhood experience. There are hints of child abuse in the poem, such as the line “and breakable/ as children’s toys.” This could explain why Prufrock is so timid and fearful, and it could also explain why he is so hesitant to go see his love interest.

How to interpret T.S. Eliot’s Poem “The Love Song of J.A.Prufrock”?

Like much of Eliot’s work, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is meant to be a criticism of modern society at the time the poem was written. In particular, the poem is criticizing the “new woman” movement of the early 20th century, in which women were seeking to break free from the social and sexual constraints of the past. Eliot believed that these women were trying too hard to break from convention, and that they were going about it in all the wrong ways. Eliot believed that people should be able to express themselves however they wanted without being judged, but he also believed that people should make an effort to fit in with the social norms of their time and place. Eliot’s poem is a warning to those who are too eager to break free of convention and tradition. He warns them that they must be careful not to break away from what is important and necessary.

Conclusion

In The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T. S. Eliot challenges people to be themselves and not be afraid to stand out from the crowd. Although the poem features a main character who is too timid to even approach the woman he loves, it also encourages its readers to be bold and confident enough to pursue their own goals and desires. The poem is a call for people to be themselves, to be honest about their feelings and desires, and to feel comfortable expressing themselves in any way they want. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is a call for people to reject the idea that they need to conform to social expectations in order to fit in. Instead, they should be themselves and express themselves how they want to.