Shakespeare's Sonnets

How would Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 be interpreted in a different cultural context?

Many cultures have poetic traditions that aim to immortalize love or beauty, such as Persian ghazals or Japanese waka poetry. Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 portrays love as eternal through the power of poetry, reflecting a Renaissance shift from divine love to romantic and personal devotion. If Sonnet 18 were rewritten in the style of another literary tradition, how might its themes or imagery change to reflect that culture’s perspective on love and permanence? Would the idea of immortalizing love through art still hold the same significance, or would another value take precedence?

Asked by
Last updated by Cat
1 Answers
Log in to answer

Hi, Your question asks for a lot of detail. Iwill attempt a general answer. If Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 were rewritten in the style of another literary tradition, its themes of love and permanence likely would shift, reflecting the cultural values and beliefs of that tradition. Consider a a Japanese haiku? Love might be seen as the fleeting nature of beauty A Western modern style free verse might concentrate on the enduring nature of love.