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    Study Guide to The Sonnets by William Shakespeare
    Study Guide to The Sonnets by William Shakespeare
    Study Guide to The Sonnets by William Shakespeare
    Ebook287 pages3 hours

    Study Guide to The Sonnets by William Shakespeare

    By Intelligent Education

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    About this ebook

    A comprehensive study guide offering in-depth explanation, essay, and test prep for William Shakespeare’s The Sonnets, which remains to be one of the most influential verse collections in English poetry.

    As a rebellious collection of rhyme schemes of the Renaissance, The Sonnets often employ a distinct sequence of metaphors or

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherInfluence Publishers
    Release dateMar 22, 2020
    ISBN9781645425878
    Study Guide to The Sonnets by William Shakespeare
    Author

    Intelligent Education

    Intelligent Education is a learning company with a mission to publish accessible resources and digital tools to educate the world. Their mission drives every project, from publishing books to designing software and online courses, film projects, mobile apps, VR/AR learning tools and more. IE builds tools to empower people who love to learn. Intelligent Education offers courses in science, mathematics, the arts, humanities, history and language arts taught by leading university professors from Wake Forest University, Indiana University, Texas A&M University, and other great schools. The learning platform features 3D models and 360 media paired with instructional videos for on-screen and Mixed Reality interaction that increases student engagement and improves retention. The IE team is geographically located across the United States and is a division of Academic Influence. Learn more at http://intelligent.education.

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      Study Guide to The Sonnets by William Shakespeare - Intelligent Education

      INTRODUCTION TO THE SONNETS

      COMMENTARY AND EDITIONS

      Next to Hamlet, the Shakespearean work which has given rise to more commentary and stirred up more controversy than any of his other works is the Sonnets, first published in 1609. The reason for much of this voluminous commentary lies in the fact that we do not know when they were written or to whom, if written to anyone at all. We do not even know whether they reveal an autobiographical story, as is claimed. Wordsworth believed that Shakespeare unlocked his heart in the Sonnets, but Browning concluded that, if this were so … the less Shakespeare he!

      The Sonnets first appeared in print in 1609 when Shakespeare was forty-five years old. The title page of this first edition reads: "Shakespeares Sonnets. Never before imprinted. At London By G. Eld for T. T. and are to be sold by John Wright, dwelling at Christ Church gate. 1609. (This means that the book was printed in London by G. Eld at the request of the editor of the sonnets, Thomas Thorpe, the T. T." of the title page, and that the Sonnets were to be sold at John Wright’s bookshop, situated at the gate of Christ Church.) Most scholars think that Thorpe published the poems without Shakespeare’s permission in view of the many errors and misprints in this original Quarto edition. Modern editors have, however, corrected these errors, though largely on the basis of educated guesswork, called emendations.

      The best of the modern scholars are Craig, Alexander, Dover-Wilson, Hubler and, especially, Hyder Rollins who edited the important Variorum edition. In the Variorum, we find the original text of the 1609 Quarto edition along with commentary on the poems and text compiled from the writings of a great many scholars and critics. The extensive discussions of all the major issues and problems make this easily the most valuable single volume for anyone seriously interested in a study of the sonnets.

      ARRANGEMENT OF SONNETS

      Although most scholars do not accept Thorpe’s ordering of the Sonnets, it is still most convenient to use his numbering, especially as no other arrangement has any independent authority. Following Thorpe’s numbering, then, the 154 sonnets would seem to fall into two main groups. The first major grouping, numbers 1-126, seem to be addressed to a handsome youth, or at least such a young man is the subject to these poems. Within this larger group, there are two special sub-sections, numbers 1-17, which exhort the youth to marry and have children to insure his immortality, and numbers 78-86, which deal with a Rival Poet who temporarily wins the favor and, presumably, patronage, of the friend. The second major grouping, numbers 127-152, are addressed to a Dark Lady, or at least such a dark-haired woman is the subject of these poems. This Dark Lady is the mistress of the poet and, for a period, of the friend as well. The two final sonnets, numbers 153 and 154, are unrelated to the previous sequence, being free translations of a fifth century A. D. Greek poem about Cupid and his torch.

      THE FRIEND

      The identity of the youth addressed in Sonnets 1-126 is unknown though scholars have suggested certain candidates. Some say the young man was William Herbert (Third Earl of Pembroke), some say Henry Wriothesley (Third Earl of Southampton), but there are many other lesser candidates such as William Harte (Shakespeare’s nephew), Willie Hughes (Oscar Wilde’s pet theory), William Hathaway, William Hall, William Harvey, and even William Himself! As can be seen, all of the candidates have the initials W. H. (or in the case of Southampton, H. W.), for these initials are the only evidence we have regarding the friend’s identification.

      The source of this evidence is the 1609 edition. On the back of the title page of this original edition, there is the following dedication:

      To The Onlie Begetter Of These Insving Sonnets Mr. W. H. All Happinesse And That Eternitie Promised By Our Ever-Living Poet Wisheth The Well-Wishing Adventurer In Setting Forth

      Since the editor, Thomas Thorpe, calls Mr. W. H. the onlie begetter of these sonnets, it might appear that someone with the initials W. H. obtained the manuscript of the Sonnets for Thorpe to publish. But most scholars believe that the phrase onlie begetter means, rather, the person who was the subject of the sonnets and their inspirer since Thorpe refers to that eternitie promised by our ever-living poet to W. H. and this promise of poetic immortality is the subject of many of the sonnets addressed to the friend from Sonnet 18 on through the first major grouping of the sonnets.

      The primary candidate is Henry Wriothesley, Third Earl of Southampton, who was twenty in 1593, the year in which many of the sonnets to the youth were probably written. As Shakespeare had dedicated his two erotic narrative poems, Venus and Adonis (1593) and The Rape of Lucrece (1594), to Southampton, and as the dedication to Lucrece was couched in language suggesting their close acquaintance, the Southampton theory would seem to have some weight, even though his initials are the reverse of those in the dedication to the Sonnets.

      To those who consider the reversal of Southampton’s initials to be a serious detraction from his candidacy, the qualifications of William Herbert, Third Earl of Pembroke, seem more appropriate. Like Southampton, Pembroke was an extremely wealthy aristocrat, a great patron of poets and other writers, and a most sensual man who despised the institution of marriage. Both Earls were handsome and stylish youths at the time Shakespeare was presumably writing his sonnets. Pembroke, however, was only thirteen in 1593, the year in which many scholars would date some of the sonnets, and the exhortation for such a young boy to marry would appear to be ridiculous. For the Pembroke theory to fit, then, the sonnets would have to be dated at about 1600.

      THE QUESTION OF HOMOSEXUALITY

      Although this first group of sonnets address a male youth in the most endearing terms, Shakespeare does not appear to have been a homosexual. On this point the best scholars are agreed. And the sonnets themselves provide the best proof of this. Sonnet 20 openly declares that Shakespeare is interested only in the young man’s spiritual love. He clearly states that the youth’s sexual parts are dedicated exclusively to the ladies. On the other hand, Shakespeare’s own sexual love, constantly mentioned in the Dark Lady sonnets (127-152), is as clearly directed towards a woman. In fact, his sexual lust for her is positively frightening in its compulsive deterioration of his character, a psychological fact which finally drives him into religious despair (in the important religious Sonnet 146). The first 126 sonnets may address the youth in the most endearing terms, but the love is always clearly Platonic in the popular sense of the word and generally in its philosophic sense as well. In Platonic terms (See Plato’s Symposium), love is compared to a ladder with many rungs, the highest of which is devoid of sex and entirely spiritual, the whole process of rising on the ladder of love being a process in which the lovers are primarily concerned with their own spiritual betterment and in aiding that of the beloved. In this regard, Shakespeare claims to be inspired to his best poetic efforts by his friend, often guiding his friend toward spiritual improvement in almost pedagogical terms. Such Platonic love between male friends was considered by many in the Renaissance to be the highest form of love possible on earth. In many of Shakespeare’s plays, male friendships are treated in such exalted terms, the friendship of Hamlet and Horatio being the most obvious example. In addition, the Renaissance mode in writing letters or dedications, which continued well into the eighteenth century, was to use the language of devoted love. Thus amorous terms, when used between male friends, carried no necessarily questionable content.

      THEMES

      Involving the Friend

      Shakespeare’s approach to his beloved friend is marked by three main themes. The first seventeen sonnets exhort the youth to marry and beget children. One of Shakespeare’s major arguments in this regard is drawn from the Biblical Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25: 14-30). In Jesus’ parable, a lord, going on a journey, gave his three servants various amounts of talents (an ancient Roman coin) depending upon their abilities. Two of them invested their sums profitably while the third, who had received only one talent, buried his in the ground. Upon returning, the lord demanded an accounting of what his servants had done with the money he had lent them. He was so satisfied by the investments of his first two servants that he promoted them to more responsible tasks, but he was angry with the servant who buried his talent, and took this one talent away from him, saying: For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath (Matt. 25: 29). The generally accepted interpretation of this parable is that God has given certain rich gifts or abilities to man which are to be put to use, not hoarded, such hoarding being against the law of God. In the application of this parable to his friend, Shakespeare argues that his friend is hoarding God’s gift of beauty (sometimes termed Nature’s gift) by not producing children who would preserve his beauty for future generations, and so his beauty will eventually be taken from him. A second Biblical parable is also alluded to, although less importantly, and this is the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 11-32). In this parable of Jesus, a man has two sons, one dutiful and the other a rioter. After many years of waste and delinquency, the rioter returns home penitent and is immediately forgiven. In fact, he is feted more extravagantly than the dutiful son ever has been. The reason for this is that joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. (Lk. 15: 7). In applying this parable, Shakespeare argues again that his friend is wasting his heritage but may be redeemed and receive manifold rewards by repentance. In these arguments, Shakespeare is playing the role of Platonic pedagogue to his beloved young friend.

      Beginning with Sonnet 18, and continuing here and there throughout the first major grouping of sonnets, Shakespeare approaches the problem of mutability and the effects of time upon his beloved friend in a different fashion. Though time and death work together to rob man, and particularly the friend, of his youth and beauty putting ugly wrinkles in his face and finally causing his death, the friend’s beauty can be made immortal in spite of the ravages of time and death. Shakespeare asserts that his poetry will survive the destructive effects and, since the subject of this poetry is his friend’s beauty it will immortalize his beloved friend’s beauty. In a third related group of sonnets, however, Shakespeare does not treat his friend’s beauty as subject to decay but as the perfect model of beauty of which the many other beauties on earth are but expressions. This is classic Platonic concept as modified by neo-platonic thought.

      THE DARK LADY

      After 126 sonnets to his young male friend, Shakespeare begins, in Sonnet 127, to write directly to and of a Dark Lady. No one knows who this dark skinned, dark-eyed and dark-haired lady could have been in spite of the mass of guesswork which has been written in an attempt to establish her identity; but she was, at all events, the evil angel who tempted Shakespeare to commit sins of the flesh and who tormented him with her infidelities. In her most devilish infidelity, she lures his young friend from his side; the two male friends caught in the toils of a provocative slut (for that is the way in which Shakespeare describes her and worse). To crown his cup of misery, the youth finally betrays their friendship completely by stealing Shakespeare’s mistress away from him. This double betrayal by both his spiritual and sexual loves is the most anguishing event in the sonnets, and produces some of his most tragic and tortured verses, some of which also appear, without full explanation, in the earlier group of sonnets addressed to the friend.

      The Dark Lady sonnets also contain many sexual allusions, most of them concealed in the form of puns, without an understanding of which there would be little understanding of these sonnets at all. For, though Shakespeare was tormented by his compulsive lust for a promiscuous and cruel female, he was still capable of treating his problem and the whole situation with wit, as, indeed, he does with many a subject in the whole sonnet sequence. The poetic habit of the day was to display one’s wit through clever handling of language, the ability to find appropriate puns, similes, metaphors and extended conceits, and also through apparently paradoxical turns of thought. The chief proponents of this type of poetic wit were a group of seventeenth century poets, later termed Metaphysical, whose chief practitioners were Donne, Herbert, Vaughan and Crashaw. But the greatest and wittiest of them all was Shakespeare, himself, the Dark Lady sonnets being a particular gold mine of such wit, especially with regard to sexual word play, a form of wit which also appears extensively throughout Shakespeare’s plays.

      THE RIVAL POET

      The third important character in the action of the sonnets is the so-called Rival Poet who appears importantly in Sonnets 78-86. This Rival Poet curries the favor of Shakespeare’s youthful friend and patron and apparently wins it, at least temporarily, an episode which also affords Shakespeare a good deal of pain. George Chapman is the favorite candidate for the role of Rival Poet although we have no evidence to show that either Southampton or Pembroke was ever his patron. Other candidates are Daniel, Drayton, Barnes, Marlowe and Markham. All we know of the Rival Poet from the sonnets is that Shakespeare considered him to be learned, presumably a university graduate, which Shakespeare was not.

      HISTORY AND FORMS OF THE SONNET

      The Italian poets were the first to write in the sonnet form. Their greatest genius in this form was Francesco Petrarco, known in English as Petrarch, who lived from 1304 to 1374. At the age of thirteen, Petrarch first saw the girl named Laura who was to inspire his odes and sonnets, poems for which, in 1341, he was crowned Poet Laureate at Rome. Although he was one of the greatest of Renaissance humanists, a rediscoverer of the pagan world, and a lover of learning, his most important achievement for us was his fixing of the form of the sonnet, a poetic form which enjoyed an enormous vogue throughout Europe, spreading through France to England. In the 1590s, when Shakespeare began writing his sonnets, the vogue of the Petrarch sonnet was at its highest, Sir Philip Sidney, Spenser, Drayton, Daniel, Wyatt and Surrey all having written importantly in this form. It was of that form that Ben Jonson, Shakespeare’s learned contemporary, once said that he cursed Petrarch for redacting verses to Sonnets; which he said were like that Tirrants bed, where some who were too short were racked, others too long cut short (as reported to Drummond and published in 1619). Most poets, however, have found the sonnet form attractive precisely because of its demands.

      The Petrarchan sonnet form demands the following discipline:

      Length: A sonnet must contain exactly fourteen lines within which a single theme is to be developed in accordance with a rigid

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