Innocence And Consciousness In Shakespeare's 'Sonnet 35'

In Sonnet 35, Shakespeare exposes the duality between innocence and consciousness present in a narcissistic relationship through the narrator’s attempt to console his perpetrator, the same individual whom he loves. Through his yielding, submissive tone, Shakespeare is able to convey the internal struggle he faces when he loves that whom causes him the most misery and is not only aware of it, but also condoning it. With the use of powerful images derived from clever metaphors, Shakespeare portrays a dynamic between predator and prey that faults neither victim nor assailant; instead, through the specific composition of the sonnet’s structure, he emphasizes the irony behind his paradoxical situation as well as his voluntary inability to renounce the situation altogether. Through his obsequious tone, his clever metaphors, and his evolving internal structure, Shakespeare justifies his lover’s harmful actions by exposing his own inactions: she hurts him, but he lets her, thus revealing the innate struggle in a harmful love that one is aware of but unable to detach from. Although such relationship would naturally be considered self-destructive and intolerably toxic, the narrator’s tone is consoling and sympathetic, therefore depicting his lover as a remorseful, humane individual who cares for the narrator’s well-being. He begins, “No more be

Through the use of tone, the narrator is able to establish her innocence and imply his own guilt. This guilt is then questioned through his allusions and metaphors, only to be redeemed through his resolute desire to be a part of his lover—even if that means inflicting pain upon himself. Although initially meant to console his lover for her transgressions, the narrator eventually strives to find peace with his own yielding