Abstract
The article studies the conceptual metaphors of time in the sonnets of Shakespeare in light of the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) of Lakoff and Johnson (1980) presented in their book, Metaphors We Live By, and Kovecses’ (2002) informative views in his book, Metaphor: A Practical Introduction. The extracted metaphors selected from a variety of sonnets that tackle the theme of time will be divided into three sub-categories: structural, ontological, and orientational. Under ontological metaphors, the study addresses metaphors in the forms of personification, metonymy, and synecdoche. Using the cognitive approach to understand the abstract concept of time in terms of a variety of concrete concepts with experiential dimension enables the reader to perceive this concept from different perspectives. The study hopes to show that the cluster of source domains Shakespeare provides in the metaphors maps an association of multidimensional possibilities that improve our understanding of time. Also, this consortium of possibilities points to the creativity and the wide scope of Shakespeare’s vision. The study hopes to add another vantage point from which to view Shakespeare’s presentation of time in light of modern progress in the studies of conceptual metaphors and cognitive poetics.
Highlights
Time is an elusive abstract concept to understand
This study has addressed the issue of time through the mediation of conceptual metaphors explained in Lakoff and Johnson’s revolutionary book Metaphors We Live By and Kovecses’ Metaphor: A Practical Introduction
Most important is the multiplicity of source domains Shakespeare recruits to explain the target domain of TIME
Summary
Time is an elusive abstract concept to understand. St. Objective or clock time is the type that passes regardless of human psychology and consciousness, whereas subjective time is related to the domain of neuropsychology and memory In his sonnets, Shakespeare retains this dual nature of time Which erst from heat did canopy the herd, And summer’s green all girded up in sheaves In these lines, Shakespeare gives examples from nature that show the procession of change objective time inflicts on the life cycle of a number of plants and natural phenomena. This study adopts modern CMT as an adequate medium for the explanation of the human experience of time This theory can be very helpful in uncovering the mysteries of the pervasive concept in the sonnets of Shakespeare. This type of metaphor belongs to the domain of cognitive linguistics in which one concept is understood in terms of another
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