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Shakespeare's sonnets - Coggle Diagram
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main characters
A FAIR YOUTH
initially shown as a model of physical and moral perfection; in the end he too becomes unfaithful and shows the defects common to humanity. His role is fundamental: most of the sonnets are centred around him.
A DARK LADY
she's a flesh-and-blood woman, openly sensual, at times unfaithful. She is physically unattractive but the poet finds her irresistibly desirable.
A RIVAL POET
he's a disturbing factor in Shakespeare's affection to the fair youth, and his part seems only that of a dangerous rival (only a few sonnets centre on him).
Shakespeare's sonnets do not revolve around a perfect lady in the Petrarchan fashion, seen by the poet as a leading star, a mystical guide to heaven
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they're indebted to the Italian and classical tradition but they are highly original = they are TRADITIONAL and EXPERIMENTAL
themes
LOVE
Shakespeare's sonnets are revolutionary in their treatment of love, because in them love is seen in its two main aspects: SPIRITUAL and PHYSICAL. Love can be Platonic or ideal, but on the other hand the Petrarchan ideal is reversed: Shakespeare's main source of poetical inspiration is a youth and the Shakespeare's lady is depicted as no goddess and she has the physical qualities (and imperfections) of an ordinary woman.
TIME
Time becomes an enemy threatening all humankind, the beauty and goodness in the world with destruction. The worst enemy of the poet-lover is not so much as the dark lady's unfaithfulness or the rival poet but the passing of time.
Shakespeare's sonnets indicate 2 ways of opposing time: in the first few sonnets PROCREATION is presented as the only "defence" against death and decay; but in other poems the victory against time is achieved through POETRY, which can immortalise both the loved one and the poet.
They were dedicated to W.H. whose identity remains a mystery (most likely William Herbert the Earl of Pembroke)