Nuns Fret Not Introduction

In modern society, people tend to thrive in groups. Whether it is spending family time at the dinner table, going to church to fellowship with others or simply taking a class to learn a new skill. People are social creatures who love being together. Generally, as a punishment, people are sent away to places where solitude is an everyday thing, like a prison. In William Wordsworth’s poem Nuns fret not, he describes what causes the individual to be imprisoned as well as having a free mind. “In truth the prison, unto which we doom ourselves, no prison is”(8-9). This could be interpreted as the mind having control over what could confine the individual.
For example, people in Western society are generally expected to come together for leisure time like holidays. This grouping activity is done for leisure time as a way to liberate oneself from the norms of everyday life. It is also expected that depression come from a disturbed mind subjected to loneliness and stress. In the poem, Wordsworth gives examples of beings that are content with solitude.
In another sense, Wordsworth’s meta-sonnet can be interpreted as praising structure and limits that come from writing as well as life. “Within the sonnets scanty plot of ground; Pleased if some souls (for such there needs be) Who have felt the weight of too much liberty, ”(11-13). Who could the ones be who have felt “the weight of too much liberty”? Clearly, we see examples of those who welcome confinement and routine, but the identity of those who are burdened is up for interpretation. In addition, if the poem is centered on a sonnet and its benefits, who’s opposition of sonnet structure is Wordsworth aiming to challenge? Could the ones who “doom themselves” to the prison be the opponents to the sonnet? There is also a possibility that the author is writing about being against the structure of a sonnet.