Intro
Shakespeare’s Sonnet 138 is a poem that depicts two lovers who lie to each other to keep each other happy. Shakespeare’s sonnet has the form of Iambic Pentameter.
Shakespeare presents the narrator of the poem to have issues with his age. It can be suggested that these difficulties cause problems within his relationship. Shakespeare shows this insecurity when he writes, “ And age in love loves not to have years told” (Abrams et al., 2012), suggesting that the narrator does not like to speak of his age when in a relationship because it makes him feel old. It can also be argued that the there is a considerable age different between the narrator and his lover, which can be seen in the sixth verse, “Although she knows my days are past the best,”. The narrator says ‘my days’ which one could infer that despite the two characters being a couple only he is the one who is old. Shakespeare presents the difficulties that arise through his insecurities through paradox, “I do believe her, though I know she lies”(Abrams et al., 2012, pg). This suggests that the protagonist likes to believe that his lover thinks of him as an “untutored youth’. However, because he is older and wiser, he is aware that his lover is lying in order to keep him sweet. The paradox here presents the conflict in the narrator’s mind as he wants to believe that he is young and the lies console his issues with age but the harsh truth is that he isn’t young and he is aware of this. And thus, it can be suggested that there is complication within the narrator’s relationship with his lover because of the narrator’s anxiety about his age which ultimately causes an internal conflict.
This confusion is further shown in the fact that he questions his lover and himself, “But wherefore says she not she is unjust?/ And wherefore say not I that I am old?”(Abrams et al., 2012) One may suggest that Shakespeare uses the questions to show the narrators confused feelings towards his lover. By questioning why she doesn’t tell the truth, the narrator is showing his distrust for his lover because he cannot understand why she lies. Shakespeare presents a complicated relationship here as he is showing a dishonest couple who question each other, and so the relationship between the two lovers is far from simple. Not only this, but the narrator even goes as far to question why he himself doesn’t say he is old making the reader aware that he is unsure of himself and has an internal conflict of whether honesty is better or to remain seemingly ‘unlearned’,. One can argue that the love presented here is hopeless because it is made up of lies, from both sides, therefore making the relationship seem complicated as the narrator is lied to and also lies to himself.
On the other hand it could be argued that Shakespeare does not present the relationship to be complicated, but shows the true love between the two characters. Shakespeare uses the kenning ‘false-speaking’ to soften the idea of his lover being liar by alluding to it. By doing this, the narrator presents his affections to the reader as he is trying to portray his lover in a lighter and more uplifted way than just calling her a liar, which could be seen as quite harsh. The narrator even suggests that he ‘credits’ her lies, making it seem like he is at peace with his lovers lies because it compliments him .Thus, suggesting that the lies about the narrators age do not cause conflict within the relationship because it actually makes him feel better about his insecurities and so he wants her to lie to him. it
This is further suggested in the repetition of “simple’ or ‘simply’, one can assume that Shakespeare uses this repetition to emphasise how easy the relationship is between the lovers, thus showing that the relationship is not in fact complicated.
It could also be argued that despite the words seeming almost pessimistic, the general tone of the sonnet lifts the mood. “When my loves swears that she is made of truth,/ I do believe her, though I knows she lies” (Abrams et al., 2012,), Edward A. Snow suggested that the tone ‘is gentle, resolved, lovingly acceptant”,(Snow, 1980), truly showing how the narrator is feeling even if his words may seem confused, therefore, the sonnet, a love story, is presenting the love that the narrator has for his lover through the “lovingly acceptant” (Snow, 1980) tone which is shown throughout the poem. Snow also focuses on the idea that his lover is ‘made of truth’, this is interesting as she does not swear that she is telling the truth and so Snow suggests that “the speaker believes her, not her vows or her lies’”. With this in mind, one can agree that the narrator truly loves her as he chooses to believe in her instead of her lies and thus, Shakespeare does not present a complicated relationship as the narrator does not care about the lies that his lover tells because he loves her enough to believe her as a person.
It can also be seen that the lovers are happy to remain in lies with each other in the concluding verse. Shakespeare writes, “And in our fault by lies we flattered be.”, this has quite a powerful effect on the reader as it has a ‘happily ever after’ tone where the narrator and his lover seem to be happy to live with the lies they tell to each other because it flatters them.
Alternatively, one could suggest that the lovers’ relationship isn’t complicated at all but actually quite simple. From a feminist perspective, it could be suggested that the female lover lies because she is bowing down to the patriarchal society by being the stereotypical wife who does and says whatever in order to make their husbands feel better and thus more superior.
In conclusion,