SHAKESPEARE AS A SONNETEER

SHAKESPEARE AS A SONNETEER

What is sonnet??

Sonnet is derived from an Italian word “Sonneto” which means a little sound. Sonnet can be defined as;

         “A short poem expressing one main idea or emotion consisting of fourteen decasyllabic lines.”

Emergence of sonnet;

As far as sonnet is concerned, sonnet was emerged in late 13th century by the famous poets Petrarch and Dante. The sonnet is classified into two forms;

Italian or Petrarch
English or Shakespearean

English sonnet;

As far as English sonnet is concerned, it was introduced by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Earl of Surrey in the 16th century. This sonnet was consisted of three quatrains (of four lines) followed by rhyming couplet “Heroic Couplet”.

Sonnet and Shakespeare;

Shakespeare followed this scheme and he handled it with such mastery that today English sonnet is known as “Shakespearean Sonnet.” Its rhyming scheme is “abab, cdcd,efef, gg.” Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets out of which 126 are devoted to a young man and the remaining 28 are addressed to a black lady.

Analysis of Sonnet;

The sonnets tell us the story of Shakespeare’s love affair. The story is that Shakespeare had a rich, young and a noble friend to whom he devoted 126 sonnets. Shakespeare loved a woman to whom he addressed 28 sonnets.

Summary of sonnets;

The thing is that Shakespeare sent his rich, noble and young friend to his beloved with love messages. Unfortunately, the lady fell in love with the rich, young and noble friend of Shakespeare. She wooed and won him and left Shakespeare to mourn the loss of both his friend and his beloved. 

Shakespeare describes his failure in love in these sonnets but one remarkable feature in his sonnets is that there is not any single or slight or a word of blame, contempt or complaint. The whole atmosphere is that of supreme affection. As he starts his sonnets by saying;

“From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty’s rose might never die.”

In sonnets firstly, he tries to convince his handsome and young friend to get married with the lady to preserve his beauty for future generation by passing it in to a child. Later, Shakespeare feels exhausted and dejected as he feels himself isolated. He is missing his friend. In later sonnets, he apologizes his friend for his own treatment. Now, he addresses “Dark Lady”, as he calls her on seeing her with another man. He, in sonnet 131 says;
                                                                                                  “In nothing art thou black save in thy deeds."

THEMES AND CHARACTERISTICS;

Shakespeare uses a lot of themes in his sonnets such as marriage, friendship, lust and rivalry. Hence, his main focus in on his devotion to his friend and his hopeless passion for his mistress. He mourns on loss of both his friendship by his friend and failure of love by his mistress respectively.