THE SONNETS
Published in 1609
Written in the 1590s
Circulated between his friends and they were sent to his patron
Earl of Southampton
The collection includes
154 sonnets in decasyllables
No petrarchan from of octave and sestet
The developement of the arguments in the most part of his sonnets
It follows the structure of petrarch of "two - poem"
There is a turning point in thought in the ninth line
Characters
The sonnets weren't necessarely chronological
No title
Divided in 2 sections
Fair youth that probably is the earl of Southampton
Organized
Sonnets from I to XVIII (18)
Devoted to the theme of increase
The poet encourages the young man to marry
To preserve virtues and beuty throught his children
Sonnets XIX (19) to CXXVI (126)
Differents topics
Among whitch the warning on the destructive power of time
And the moral weakness
Time is not theme anymore but an active antagonist
The celebration of the beloved conveys in a meditation on art and immortality
Group of sonnets LXXVIII (78) to LXXXVI (86)
Are concerned of rival poet
Adressed the poems to a young man
From sonnet CXXVII to the end
Addressed to the dark lady
That physically wasn't attractive
But the poet finds her irresistbly desirable
The addressing scene is a novetly in shakespeare's sonnets
As it breaks with the tradition of courtship of petrarch
Themes
In Shakespeare's sonnets
Reversal of traditional themes
Of sonnets about love
Es. traditional poems praised the beauty and worth of women
Subjective situations in the sonnets
Means to explore universal themes such as time, death, love, beauty, and art
Unique
In emotional and behavior analysis
His exsperience as a dramatis
Made him more aware of the complexity and vastness of human feelings
Style
Characterized
By a vivid, rich and descriptive language
The absence of classical references
Gives the impressions that shaespeare's speech is immediate
Sonnets have a dramatic quality throught the sudden beginnin
Of the use of questions or pronous "thou" and "thee"
Syle controverso