Lust and the Degeneration of Man Exposed in Shakespeare’s...

Lust and the Degeneration of Man Exposed in Shakespeare’s 129th Sonnet Love in its purest form is the most unsurpassable of all emotions, requiring intense commitment, while simultaneously providing incomparable bliss. However, often the intense desire for these feelings produces a new emotion, lust, with a craving that gives priority to obtaining an objectified person, as opposed to a very real human. Lust can be further practically defined as the inability to place selfless love on a higher pedestal than selfish desire. Shakespeare explores these conflicting definitions of lust in his 129th sonnet, condemning his animalistic variations of lust that coexist with his desire for a genuine state of love. As opposed to following the†¦show more content†¦When juxtaposed with the opening line, an inappropriate form of lust is a waste of the vitality that a person can give to the world in the form of intellect. In accordance with this natural tendency, the tone of the first half of the sonnet is most definitely savage (Martin 5), supported by the wor ds bloody†¦murderous, which brings about the connotation of a fierce creature of nature with only the desire to quench the physical thirst. These first lines support the wild tendencies by comparing Shakespeare’s initial action of lust to the first defense (Vendler 551) of an animal, partial to primitively impulsive behavior. The speaker is trying to erase his guilt when his rationality as a man should advise a reformation of his reasons for love. Throughout the sonnet, there is a continuous reference, more technically, a conceit of the hunt that further enhances the image of animals in their natural setting, uninhibited by society’s rules. Some critics have gone so far as to contest that Shakespeare mocks primitive lust. However, its sole presence is quite pitiful, for the speaker is unable to grasp a greater level of satisfaction that is everlasting, not ephemeral. The distinction between selflessness and selfishness is one that separates the human from the sava ge animal, although these opposing