The Symbolic Meanings of Roses in Shakespeare’s Sonnets

• 作者: DONG Yuping
• 来源期刊: 中美英语教学:英文版
• 学科: 文学
• 关键词: rose SONNET beauty REPRODUCTION IMMORTALITY
• 年，卷（期）: 2020,（8）
• 页码范围: 239-247
• 页数: 9页
• 分类号: H31

摘要

The paper explores the symbolic meanings of roses in Shakespeare’s sonnets. In Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets, therose imagery is placed in a dominant position among all the other flower imagery. In general, rose is one of themost conventional images in the sonnet. But in addition to the traditional symbol of beauty and love, rose in thesonnet shows more symbolic meanings: a symbol of vitality and reproduction, a symbol of friendship and devotion,and a symbol of fidelity and immortality. The symbolic rose, to a great extent, reflects the Renaissance humanistShakespeare’s values and ideals of humanism. By successfully employing the rose imagery, Shakespeare extols thevirtues of reproduction, displays his faith in the immortality of his verse, and conveys the message of appreciatingand cherishing the beauty, goodness, and truth.