George Meredith's Sonnet Modern Love

In the sonnet, “Modern Love,” by George Meredith, the speaker tells of the relationship between a married couple that is distanced and discontent in their marriage. During the 1800’s, the time period in which Meredith wrote the poem, divorce and separation were uncommon and seen as taboo. Meredith uses an unexpected conceit as he compares “modern love” to a living death, as in that time period it would be uncommon for marriage to openly be regarded as anything but an honorable and sacred bond in society. Meredith’s use of metaphors, and similes, of diction and imagery that creates a hopeless, somber, and detached tone, and of characterization that shows the distance and tension between the lovers, all intertwine to create the overall pessimistic

The speaker tells of an unidentified “he” and “she” which is notable because it leaves the reader to interpret the man and woman, not as a couple but two separate detached people, and also the speaker does not give the reader a specific direct detailed characterization of the characters, in order to leave this as a general interpretation of “modern love” rather than just a specific interpretation of one married couples experience with marriage and love. Also, the entire poem has a sense of distance and detachment to it as the outside speaker looking in, is giving observations rather than the characters giving their thoughts and feelings on their own situation. In lines 1 through 5, “she” is sobbing in bed but once she feels her husband’s “hand’s light quiver by her head” (2) and realizes that he is awake she instantly stops crying as it would not be appropriate for people in that time period, especially women, to openly show discontent with their marriage even with their partner. “He” is characterized by his reaction to his wife actions in which he finds to be “dreadfully venomous to him” (6) as the reader can infer that he is upset by his wife’s sobs. The reader later learns in line 16, that both “he” and “she” are discontent