(Shakespeare

1
(Shakespeares) Sonnets

• by Jürgen Lätte

2
What is a sonnet?

• Little song
• 14. Lines
• strict rhyme scheme
• specific structure
• Sonneteers

• A Shakespearean, or English, sonnet consists of
  14 lines, each line containing ten syllables and
  written in iambic pentameter, in which a pattern
  of an unimpaired syllable followed by an
  emphasized syllable is repeated five times.

3
Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey
4
Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey

• translated Italian sonnets into English
• wrote sonnets of their own
• Surrey introduced blank verse into the English
  language in his translation of the Aeneid of
  Virgil
• They replaced Petrarch's scheme of an eight-line
  verse and six-line verse with three four-line
  verse and added a two-line conclusion known as a
  couplet.

5
Shakespeare's sonnets

• simply The Sonnets
• Themestime, love, beauty and mutability
• He wrote 154 poems
• SHAKE-SPEARES SONNETS

• Thomas Thorpe - an authorized manuscript or an
  unauthorized copy.
• a mysterious dedication
• the ongoing Shakespeare authorship question

6
Shakespeare's sonnets

• The first 17 sonnets are written to a young man.
• Most of the sonnets are addressed to a young man
  expressing the poet's love for him.

• Sonnets 127-152 are written to the poet's
  mistress expressing his strong love for her.
• The final two sonnets, 153-154, are allegorical.
• Infidelity, self-resolution, criticism

7
Petrarh and Shakespeare

• Petrarchs sonnets focused mainly on one theme,
  Shakespeare developed many subjects within his
  themes.
• Petrarchs sonnets were dedicated only to Laura
• Shakespeare on the other hand shared a reciprocal
  love with both his lovers the objects of his
  love were articulate, active partners.

8
Thank you!