Sonnet 18- Short Questions
#How does Shakespeare want to immortalize the fair youth?
#How does Shakespeare immortalize the beauty of hisfriend in "Sonnet 18"? [NU. 2011]
#How does Shakespeare glorify the beauty of his friend?
Ans. The poet considers his friend, the fair youth, more beautiful than the lovely elements of nature in summer. All the graceful and lovely elements of summer do not last long, but the poet's friend has a beauty that is sure to withstand the ravages of time. He feels his friend's beauty will never fade. His friend will ever live through his verse. He thinks that his verse possesses the power to eternize his friend's beauty. As long as the human race lives and loves to read this sonnet written in praise of his friend, it will remain to celebrate his beauty. It will give him eternal life. In this way, Shakespeare has immortalised his friend.
# How does Shakespeare establish the superiority of his friend's beauty over the beauty of the summer season?
Ans. Shakespeare tries to establish the superiority of his friend's beauty over the beauty of summer season by glorifying the former and by pointing out some negative qualities of the latter. Summer has a number of negative qualities. Its temperature changes frequently and its duration is short. The stormy winds of the summer destroy the beautiful flowers of the season. All the beautiful things of nature are subject to destruction. But his beauty will never fade. He will remain the same because he has been immortalised in these verse lines. Thus the poet has established the superiority of his friend's beauty over the summer season.
