preview

William Shakespeare 's The Literary Cannon

Decent Essays

Year 10 pre-IB English
Unit: Masters in Pieces
Part B: Tomos Gardiner
Why is the original text counted as part of the literary cannon?
The reason why Sonnet 130 is a part of the literary cannon is because the Sonnets introduce a very strict system needed to follow to even be considered a sonnet. All of Williams Shakespeare’s pieces are incredible but the Sonnets are special. All the Sonnets have to follow a strict set of rules this includes being fourteen line long and follow an ABABCDCDEFEFGG rhyme system. The creation of one of these Sonnets would be a challenge however Shakespeare developed 154 of them and so there are 2156 lines. This just goes to show the commitment and creativity of William Shakespeare. Each Sonnet also has a “Problem or Issue” for the first eight stanzas then “Opinion on the Problem” for stanza nine to twelve and finally a “Resolution” for the last two stanzas. The “Problem or Issue” is that this “Mistress” is not the ideal woman. The “Opinion on the Problem” is the He (The man describing the mistress does not know the ideal woman. Lastly, the “Resolution” can be seen to be that “He” loves besides of all these flaws or he is saying “she will do”. This is why Sonnet 130 is part of literary canon because of the meaning and the strict structure that has to be followed making it very hard to create this Sonnet.
What is the possible authorial intention in the original text?
The possible authorial intention in Sonnet 130 could be seen as very sweet

Get Access