Conceptual Metaphors of Time in the Sonnets of Shakespeare: A Cognitive Linguistic Approach

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.