Deconstructive Reading of Sonnet 18

Deconstruction 

Deconstructionism is a technique of literary criticism which seeks to analyze a work as thoroughly as possible as it pertains to other works. In other words, according to creator Jacques Derrida, 

"there is nothing outside the text"

Every written source is in itself a linked text; Derrida believed that there was no objectivity possible. The main aim is to understand why the work was created, by examining the "context" of its creation: history, era, culture, society, and other similar works.

How to Deconstruct the poem:-

To analyze a poem using deconstruction, the first step should be to place down the superficial meaning; 

• What do the words say? 

• How does the poem speak to you?

 Most examinations of poetry focus on the surface meaning without digging deeper. You should try to find out where and why the poem was written, and for what purpose: was it a response to cultural norms, or a reflection of self-examination? Who was the writer, and why was this poem, at this time, so important?

 

Historical Context 

The historical context is also important. Many poems directly reflect public sentiment of the time, while others deliberately go against the popular sentiment. Use your knowledge of the writer and his/her lifestyle to understand how the poem reflects the times.

Deconstructive Reading of Sonnet 18

Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;

Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:

   So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

   So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

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