Question

Which of the following couplets from Shakespeare's Sonnet 138 employs double entendre to express the theme that physical love triumphs over all failures?

That she might think me some untutor'd youth / Unlearned in the world's false subtleties

Therefore I lie with her and she with me / And in our faults by lies we flatter'd be

When my love swears that she is made of truth / I do believe her, though I know she lies

O, love's best habit is in seeming trust / And age in love loves not to have years told

Answer 1

O, love's best habit is in seeming trust / And age in love loves not to have years told.

Step-by-step explanation:

William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 138" deals with the issues of love relationship and his insecurities about growing old and how that will be an aspect of the relationship. The short sonnet delves into the short 'affair' of the poet with his "dark lady", which reassures his 'validity' of being capable of love and to be loved in return.

A double entendre is when the poet uses words that have a double meaning. This is evident in the lines "O, love's best habit is in seeming trust / And age in love loves not to have years told." In these two lines, the poet describes how he thinks love is like a disguise to hide secrets, the pretense of truth. And older lovers, like himself, don't like it when their old age is pointed out.

Thus, the correct answer is the last/ fourth option.