Sonnet 121

Shakespeare. Sonnet 1

«‘Tis better to be vile than vile esteem’d,
When not to be receives reproach of being».
 

The poet receives the same public reproof as the youth did earlier in the sonnets and is forced to consider whether or not his actions are immoral.

Sonnet 121
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‘Tis better to be vile than vile esteem’d,
When not to be receives reproach of being,
And the just pleasure lost which is so deem’d
Not by our feeling but by others’ seeing:
For why should others false adulterate eyes
Give salutation to my sportive blood?
Or on my frailties why are frailer spies,
Which in their wills count bad what I think good?
No, I am that I am, and they that level
At my abuses reckon up their own:
I may be straight, though they themselves be bevel;
By their rank thoughts my deeds must not be shown;
Unless this general evil they maintain,
All men are bad, and in their badness reign.

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Maintaining that “‘Tis better to be vile than vile esteemed / When not to be receives reproach of being,” under no circumstance will he tolerate hypocrisy. He will not defend the indefensible in himself but will admit the truth of his errors: “No, I am that I am; and they that level / At my abuses reckon up their own.” The phrase “I am that I am” is biblical in its affirmation of self-knowledge and humility. The poet will not submit to the judgment of those with “false adulterate eyes” nor let them make evil what he holds to be good — although in the concluding couplet there is a hint of pessimism on the poet’s part.

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Credits

English audio from YouTube Channel Socratica

Summary from Cliffsnotes.com

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