“SHALL I COMPARE THEE TO AN OLD MAN?” A VELHICE EM WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE E EUGÉNIO DE ANDRADE

Abstract

Oldness is a recurring theme in the work of William Shakespeare and Eugénio de Andrade, and is always treated in a dysphoric fashion. In both authors, the last of the seven human ages, carries a series of negative consequences: a) beauty is transient and lovers depart; b) Physical and mental decrepitude are inevitable; c) Near the end of life, individuals must deal with the fear of dying. In order to express the effects of oldness, Shakespeare and Eugénio resort to similar comparisons between humans and Autumn as oldness and Winter as death. In this article, from a comparative and intertextual perspective, I exemplify and analyse those melancholic and sometimes painful images. In order to do so, I resort to the work of both writers, to the opinion of reputed specialists in the field of literary studies and psychology of death and, naturally, to my own opinion.