Shakespeare?s Sonnets: The Theme Of Love Essay

William Shakespeare is one of the most well-known writers of all time. His sonnets are timeless and his plays are performed again and again. Much of his history is known, but can also be considered a little cloudy. He seemed to be a sarcastic man not necessarily loved by all. I enjoy his plays, but personally love his sonnets best of all. Knowing the controversy surrounding his life, “Sonnet 71” offers a slight insight into all of that.

Written in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet, one could hardly mistake it for anything so pleasant. Sonnets being traditionally used for beautiful, appealing topics, already there is contradiction between

Shakespeare follows the English style of sonnets, while Collins partially follows the Petrarchan style. Both sonnets include fourteen lines, a defining feature of the sonnet form. “My mistress’ eyes are…” consists of three quatrains that describes his argument on love cliches, and ends with a couplet, the turning point of English sonnets. The sonnet consists of ten syllables each line, following the rhythm of the iambic pentameter rule. Shakespeare’s sonnet follows the usual rhyme scheme of an English sonnet: abab cdcd efef gg. Collins attempts to stray from the general sonnet principles in contrast with Shakespeare. “Sonnet” loosely follows the Petrarchan style, as the lines are grouped into one octave and one sestet in structure. Collins’s “Sonnet” does not have a rhyme scheme, nor does the poem follow iambic pentameter. His sonnet does, however, present his turn in line 9, the beginning of the sestet. Collins begins poking fun at English sonnets in the octave, but then turns to joke at Petrarchan forms. Both sonnets have a lighthearted, humorous tone and parody classic styles of sonnets in different ways.

In this sonnet, Shakespeare employs the use of the Elizabethan sonnet style to juxtapose social and emotional wealth. The structure of the sonnet is comprised of fourteen lines which make up three quatrains and a couplet. The first quatrain has the rhyme scheme “abab”, while the second and third quatrains have the rhyme scheme “cdcd” and “ebeb”. The final couplet has the rhyming scheme “ff”. It is

The sonnet sequences of Shakespeare and Wroth present two variant perspectives of falling in love, each illustrated as affection through their poetics. Though they lean on each other, Shakespeare’s features a more masculine representation of desire and Wroth’s, a more feminine. To generalize their differences: how Shakespeare grounds his sonnets—with more physicality—Wroth matches with an intangible aspect; where he harshens, she remains reserved; where he personalizes, she makes general. What’s altogether valuable to their comparison is the idea that the addressee of each of the series is for the most part a male figure, as opposed to the typical fashion of having a woman as a subject. Their treatment of these subjects, too, defines their

Known as the leader in classical poetry and drama, English writer William Shakespeare, captures the passion and emotions that the romance and depths of the human heart experiences in life. This is especially shown in his vast collection of sonnets which exemplified the “carpe diem” ideology of the period, and the love that one can have for another. Two of the most famous of Shakespeare’s works, Sonnet 55 [Not Marble, nor the gilded monuments] and sonnet 116 [Let me not to the marriage of true minds], are no exception to this theme in poetry. Both of these sonnets exemplify the love that the narrator has for a mistress in his life, and how he defines his love for them. Throughout both poems, Shakespeare conveys his purpose through the

Two constant themes throughout this collection of sonnets is death and preservation. Shakespeare battles with the idea of how to preserve not only the beauty of his subject, but also his work without losing value and merit. Sonnet 17 and Sonnet 55 share the common idea that preservation is necessary and important, but each take different approaches to this preservation. From Sonnet 17 to Sonnet 55, Shakespeare grows confident in his craft and begins to develop a different ideology when it comes to preservation. In this paper, I will compare and contrast Sonnet 17 and Sonnet 55 and thoroughly examine Shakespeare’s changing preservation ideology.

Sonnets hold more detail and depth than can be easily noted in a first reading. Due to their strict structure and short length, a lot of thought must be put into the words chosen by the poets. Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare exemplify the idea of sonnet diction being a vital part of the poem. This is especially true in the cases of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 and Spenser’s Sonnet 64. Both sonnets feature a strong focus on a female beloved and her appearance. The two authors have different approaches in how they describe her looks, but the overall structure of the sonnets are very similar. In both cases, each word in the two sonnets means something more than the word alone first implies.

The theme of homoeroticism is prominent in Shakespeare’s sonnet as the narrative voice affectionately describes the subject of his passion, ‘a woman’s face, with Nature’s own hand painted.’ It demonstrates the effeminate essence of his lover yet maintains a certain ambiguity as to their gender which is suggested in the second line, ‘master-mistress.’ This can be interpreted both in a literal sense or a figurative sense. The narrative voice could be alluding to the idea that the subject of his love has complete control over him in the same way that a master has over his mistress, or perhaps that it is both a male and a female. The deceptive use of gender obscurity and word play within the first few lines highlights the problem of assumption, indicative of societal and religious influence of 16th century England. Although George Stevens maintains that Shakespeare’s homoerotic sonnets provoked, ‘an equal mixture of disgust and indignation’, Robert Martz asserts, ‘the bonds between men that helped to shape the courtly love tradition remained compelling in Shakespeare’s time.’ Thus, Shakespeare arguably satirises the

Although “during much of his lifetime Shakespeare was better known and more admired as a poet than as a playwright,” (Nelles, Par.1) one can argue that William Shakespeare is one of the most brilliant and fascinating British poets, not only of his time, but also to this day. His work is everlasting and promising. Hence, we are still talking about him and discussing his work in the 21st century. His poems leave the reader inspired and wanting more. The techniques he used for his poems and sonnets are abstract and authoritative, while giving something simple more meaning. Sonnet 29 is one of many of Shakespeare’s sonnets published in 1609, which illustrates a common man’s trouble within himself. This sonnet emphasizes the need for a person to understand that although one will always see the next person doing better than them, it is crucial for one to contain happiness and strength towards one 's own goals and aspirations. Sonnet 116 is another of Shakespeare’s sonnets that emphasizes that love is eternal no matter what the circumstances might be. This essay will compare the similarities and differences of the two sonnets and examine what the two sonnets share.

Through this sonnet, Shakespeare tries to define what the phenomenon of Love is all about, by first stating what it isn’t, then asserting what it is.

"The sonnet is the most important, as it is the most perfect, of all modern lyric forms" (Reed, 119). Although the sonnet made a relatively late appearance in English literature, it has become a staple in the lyrical expression of private emotions. The sonnet has been used by every poet from Petrarch, who created the original Italian sonnet, to Shakespeare, who reinvented the sonnet's form. Because the Italian, or Petrarchan, sonnet is the original form, it is the legitimate form and contains particular characteristics that differ from the more recent form, the English, or Shakespearean, sonnet. But it is the English sonnet that is more idolized and glorified by English literature students, and it is this recent

William Shakespeare, man with intelligence, creativity, and with great passion for love, was one of the most prestige playwright, poet, and actor from the British Literature. He contributed his whole life writing some of the finest and well known plays and poems that are still highly valued in the present literary world. Shakespeare’s conventional themes for most of his plays and poems are about universal matters such as love, jealousy, and beauty which were common focus during the Renaissance era. During this period, Shakespeare’s poems, "Sonnet 29" and "Sonnet 130", demonstrates his views and morals regarding love to convey the theme of triumph of true love over beauty and wealth.

<br>The vogue of the sonnet in the Elizabethan age was brief but was very intense. Sir Thomas Wyatt and The Earl of Surrey brought the Petrarchan sonnet to England and with that an admiration for lyrical poetry. This had major consequences on English verse; it was not only due to the

The courtly lyric/ Petrarchan love sonnet introduced to English by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey: not the only poetic genre in the Renaissance, but one of the most interesting,