1. What is the speaker’s attitude toward his loved one in each of these sonnets?
In Sonnet 18, the speaker is prizing for his lover’s beauty; in Sonnet 29, the speaker regains confidence, feels wealthy, and is motivated by thinking of his beloved; in Sonnet 30, the speaker gets back what he lost and ends his sorrow when thinking about his friend.
6. In the first two quatrains of Sonnet 18, what are the speaker’s feelings about summer?
In the first two quatrains of Sonnet 18, the speaker’s feelings about summer are that it is beautiful yet more extreme than his loved one, which can be seen from line two to six.
7. What similarities can you find in the main ideas in Sonnets 29 and 30?
Main ideas in Sonnets 29 and 30 are similar in ways that speakers in both sonnets started out in disgrace, depression, and outcast. However, when they remember their beloved, their conditions improve: they feel worthy again and overcome feelings of loss and grief.
8. Shakespeare’s sonnets use conceits, elaborate figures of speech that draw a surprising connection between two seemingly dissimilar things. In these sonnets, which conceit makes the most unexpected comparison? Explain.
Among the three sonnets, I think the conceit of comparing the speaker’s lover to a summer’s day in Sonnet 18 makes the most unexpected comparison because summer symbolizes passion rather than beauty.
