A Study of Shakespeare’s Tone in Sonnet 35

謝青++張耀莎

A Study of Shakespeares Tone in Sonnet 35

Sonnet 35 grows from a comforting tone to a slightly blaming tone and ends with a forgiving tone， reflecting the speakers inner contradiction and tolerance， as well as his deep love for the listener. In this sonnet， it is known that the listener does wrong to the speaker and hurts him badly. However， keeping his own grief bottled up and trying his best to find excuses for the listeners wrong doings， the speaker comforts the listener patiently and tolerantly who is shedding his tears in pain. The speakers mixed love-hate feelings are made plain in comforting comparisons， negative words， and final forgiveness.

In order to wash away the listeners sins， the speaker comforts him with comparisons in the first quatrain.

No more be grieved at that which thou hast done；

Roses have thorns， and silver fountains mud，

Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun，

And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud. （1-4）

In the first line， the speaker directly comforts the listener not to be so grieved at what he has done and comes up with examples to demonstrate that nothing is perfect enough without stains in a very comforting tone. Roses are beautiful but they are stained by annoying thorns； fountains are clean but they cannot exist without mud； the moon and the sun are bright but they are sometimes dimmed by clouds and eclipses； even the sweetest bud which seems to be perfect is inevitably spotted by loathsome cankers. Actually the speaker uses such images as roses， fountains， the moon， the sun， and the sweetest bud on purpose. The speaker aims to use them to embody the listeners beauty， which implies the speakers love for the listener.

Apart from using comparisons with things in nature to wash away the listeners stains， the speaker continues to point out that to err is human and no one is exceptional， as the following line shows：

All men make faults， and even I in this， （5）

But in the next line the tone is changed to a slightly blaming one， as the following lines shows：

Authorizing thy trespass with compare，

Myself corrupting salving thy amiss，

Excusing thy sins more than thy sins are；（6-8）

For to thy sensual fault I bring in sense；

Thy adverse party is thy advocate，

And ‘gainst myself a lawful plea commence.

Such civil war is in my love and hate. （8-12）

The speaker shows his mixed love-hate feelings under the skin by using some negative words in a wonderful way as we can see in above lines. Obviously， words like “trespass”， “amiss”， “sins”， “fault”， “adverse”， “war” and “hate” reflect how badly the listener has done to the speaker and convey the speakers complaints and distress in a slightly blaming tone. In a normal case， the speaker should severely fight against the listener for his despicable deeds because he robs the mistress of the speaker. Needless to say， the speaker is hurt and grieved due to his deeds. On the one hand， the speaker considers the listeners deed sinful and faulty， and he as the adverse party has every reason to blame him. On the other hand， the speaker can not bear watch the listener weep all the time without any mercy， so he corrupts himself and fights against himself to find any excuse to defend the listeners deeds. From that we can know that there is a fierce war in the speakers inner world where the one betrayed by listener is defeated by the one who deeply loves the listener.

After painful struggles inside， the speaker forgives the listener in the final couplet：

That I an accessary needs must be

To that sweet thief which sourly robs from me. （13-14）

Although the listener robs the mistress of the speaker， which hurts the speakers feelings badly， the speaker finally chooses to cover up the listeners sins and to defend him. The speaker is going to be the accomplice rather than the plaintiff. The change of roles implies that the speaker forgives the listener. Another implication is showing when the speaker calls the listener “sweet thief” that the speaker loves the listener so much that he chooses to forgive him no matter how bad his doings are.

In summary， the speakers mixed love-hate feelings and tolerant love for the listener are embodied by comparisons in a comforting tone， negative words a blaming tone， and final forgiveness a forgiving tone.

References：

[1]Shakespeare，William.Shake-speares Sonnets：Never Before Imprinted.London：Thomas Thorpe，1609.