Violet Wang

Ms. Gardner
English 10H, 5th period
3 September 2017
Theme and Language in Sonnet 144
Evil tempts even the best intentions of purity: Sonnet 144 captures the classical idea of the a
devil arguing evil ideas with a pure angel, and is complexified through the additional symbolism
of human nature.
William Shakespeare's use of clear symbolism, striking juxtaposition, and opposing sound
devices create a vivid scene that vocalizes his authentic narrative. Through his comparison of the
devil to a seductively evil woman and the angel to an unsuspecting man, the effect of the sonnet
is enhanced through the new perspective. He relates these ideas seamlessly by defining them
metaphorically in the beginning, and allowing the reader to creatively continue it to create
different interpretations. In this way, the sonnet is thought-provoking and can be personally
relatable through the insight on the nature of humanity. Adding on, the words Shakespeare uses,
such as “better” and “worser”, “purity” and “foul”, strongly juxtapose each other to create a
clearly contrasted line between the good and bad in the sonnet. This effectively draws sides and
intensifies the malicious “fight” element in the sonnet. Furthermore, the opposing sound devices
in the smooth words such as “wooing”, but also more explosive words like “corrupt” and
“tempteth” show how the evil side can disguise itself with pure intentions, but have dark
underlying ideas. This can be seen as the true nature of people, and lets the sonnet take on a
deeper side.
Shakespeare ends this sonnet by saying he will always live in doubt of the ethical standpoint
of his decisions, until his good side is gone. He loosely ties up this sonnet to allow some
individual interpretation. All in all, Sonnet 144 provides insight on the complexity of human
nature using the broad idea of the angel and devil and is universally effective in its understanding
of the internal battle.