A Thematic Analysis Of “When, In Disgrace With Fortune And Men’s Eyes”

2 Pages 592 Words

A thematic analysis of “When, in disgrace with Fortune and Men’s Eyes”

Weather it be from family members, peers, or even a pet, everyone desires to be loved. Love is a powerful emotion that can create the strongest bonds that can last forever. Love, despite the happiness it can bring, also causes heartache, despair and sorrow. Shakespeare’s sonnet number twenty-nine expresses the sorrowful feelings attributed to the darker side of love.

The person in “when, in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes” feels depressed and unwanted. In the words: “…I all alone beweep my outcast state.”, he is expressing his loneliness in the fact that others reject him. When one feels unloved, they have a natural tendency to become jealous of those that are accepted and loved. In Shakespeare’s sonnet twenty-nine, the person expresses his jealousy in the following words: “…Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, featured like him, like him friends possessed.” He believes that if he had friends like the other guys, he would then have more hope in life. He goes on to say that maybe if he looked like those who had friends he would be accepted. Feeling like he is not good enough, this person begins to deviate from his interests and good qualities, and again jealousy takes over and he desires the other guys good qualities. “Desiring this man’s art and that man’s scope, with what I most enjoy contented least”; he say’s sadly.

In an ironic, almost humorous twist, the person thinks of someone who he loves and it changes his whole outlook on life. By thinking about this person and how he or she makes him feel, his level of confidence becomes much higher. He describes his change of feeling in the following words: “Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, haply I think on thee, and then my state, like the lark at break of day arising…” With these words, the sonnet takes on a totally different tone. No lon...