Summary
Summary Essay notes for 'Sonnet 43' (How do I love thee?) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning
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Essay plan for 'Sonnet 43' containing paragraph plans with key quotes and detailed analysis of quotes and structures
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Sonnet 43 by Elizabeth Barrett BrowningStrength of the love
Barrett Browning emphasises the strength of their love/ Barrett
Browning presents the speaker’s love to be powerful and everlasting.
Strength of love is also emphasised through the use of religious imagery
‘I love thee… by sun and candle-light’
‘by sun and candle-light’ – suggests love through night and day, always in love as
they are both light sources but are used at different times of day, or as they are both
light sources, could imply that her lover is a source of light and warmth for the
speaker
'to the depth and breadth and height / My soul can reach’
‘depth and breadth and height’ – triplet; emphasises how much love by referring to
the entire volume of space, love completely fills everything
‘soul’ – religious connotations, prominent as was written at a time when religion was
more important to daily life than it is now/ suggests the love is an essential part of
them or at least to their conscious mind/ could imply that the love transcends
humanity, as the soul is not completely human
Enjambment – caught up in her love, could go on and on/ emphasises that she
doesn’t have to think about how much she is in love, it comes naturally
‘I shall but love thee better after death’
Introduction of theme of mortality, suggests that the poem is the speaker reflecting
on their life together and coming to terms with the death
Emphasising the strength of love through the idea that the love will continue even
through tragic events, and will continue after even life itself ends
Idealistic love
Barrett Browning presents love in an idealistic manner in the Octave of
‘Sonnet 43’
‘I love thee freely’/ ‘I love thee purely’
‘freely’, ‘purely’ adverbs – suggests that it is natural, unrestrained/ implying that the
love is ideal as there are no obstacles to face and that the love is self is pure and
untainted by trouble or problems
‘For the ends of Being and ideal Grace’
Suggests that the love is good and faithful by using religious imagery
‘ideal’ adj. – the love itself is ideal, there is nothing to be improved about it,
furthering this idea that the love is untroubled
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