William Shakespeare demonstrates a deep understanding of the human condition through his sonnets, with Sonnet XXIX being an excellent example of this ability. The idea Shakespeare conveys in this sonnet is that life is often agonizing, but remembering a love makes these circumstances less painful. This idea is shown in the sonnet, as the speaker in the sonnet is upset with his life, feels even more upset after thinking about the successes of others, but stops feeling upset when he thinks of his love. At the beginning of Sonnet XXIX, the speaker is lonely and upset with his current state, saying that “I all alone beweep my outcast state/ and trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries” (XXIX, 2-3). This metaphor of heaven being deaf shows that
