In Shakespeare's first Sonnet, "From fairest creatures we desire increase", Shakespeare uses the imagery of food and consumption and characteristics of the natural world in order to express the theme of his poem. The theme might be best expressed as the problems associated with engaging in sexual relations without procreation. Shakespeare develops this theme in three primary ways. He describes such an act as wasteful, sinful, and as a violation of the natural order.
To begin, Shakespeare uses several examples in the sonnet to express the wastefulness involved in sexual relations without procreation. The phrase "Making a famine where abundance lies" (Shakespeare 7) connects the lack of food when there is plenty, to the lack of procreation when it is fully conceivable. Shakespeare also concludes that it is not only a waste to the earth, but also to oneself. The phrase "Thy self thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel"(Shakespeare 8) reveals that not procreating means dying without passing on traits to a new generation. This is a waste of one's genetic qualities thus no " tender heir [that] might bear his memory" (Shakespeare 4). In addition, Shakespeare expresses that if one does not wait to procreate, it may be too late and hence " Mak'st waste in niggarding" ( Shakespeare 12).
The traditional view in a Christian context is that the superfluous consumption of food is a gluttonous act. The earth provides human beings with food and one is expected to take what is needed and also to give back to the earth in exchange. Gluttony is one of the Seven Deadly Sins leading to eternal punishment. The selfish act of gluttony in this sonnet is related to the sinfulness of sex without procreation. .
According to traditional Christian teaching, the main purpose of marriage is to propagate the human race. This is based mainly on the first chapter of Genesis. According to this account, God created human beings male and female and commanded them to "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth" (Genesis 1:22).
