An Introduction to Shakespeare's Sonnets
William Shakespeare, perhaps the greatest writer to ever write words
from pen to paper, has been analyzed, dissected, and examined in ways that
could make anyone happy. But Shakespeare wrote to entertain the common people
of Elizabethan England as well as the sophisticated elite. And he had an
unmatched ability to touch the hearts of his audience and often make them laugh
and cry at the same time.
But Shakespeare wrote not to hide his meaning under high idioms, but to
share his wisdom with others in an entertaining and profound way. We see in
both his works and his poetry that he can rearrange words and their
conventional arrangements almost at will for an unmatched expression of ideas.
While some arrangements in his sonnets are derived from the need for a rhyme to
match the pattern, the result is some of the most charming verses known in
English literature.
The sonnet was a popular form of poetry throughout Europe in Elizabethan
times. Shakespeare's choice of the English form of the sonnet gave him almost
unlimited flexibility of expression. This chosen form enabled him to resolve or
continue his subjects when the mood (or the dictation of the iambic pentameter)
hit him, and he often continued his thoughts by dividing up the quatrains.
Still, most modern-day editors use the sonnet form to make their choice of
modernized punctuation, arguing that each quatrain usually marks the end of an
entire thought.
Usually, the sonnets reflected a wretched lover haunted by conflicting
feelings of lust and idealized love. Shakespeare's sonnets often convey greater
contradictions and show a contrast between beauty and cold reality, hope and
despair. The structured form required discipline and creativity, but from these
conflicts Shakespeare the Sonneteer could explore his innermost self in the
same way that an actor's monologues would reveal a character's soul on stage.
But Shakespeare, the artist, often hid between the lines of his verse, and
despite the temptation of modern scholars, we know too little about the man
himself to draw firm conclusions from the lines of his poetry.
Despite the speculations of modern scholars, it is doubtful that the
author intended them to form a unified narrative. The narrative was best suited
for his plays and short-story poetry, and he likely viewed his sonnets as
simply short poems. It is likely that he composed them just for inspiration or
to pass the time between other projects and activities. If so, imposing a theme
or narrative thread for the entire collection is simply the product of our own
imagination and an attempt to find order in the chaos of existence. Since the
author was also a successful businessman, playwright, and businessman, it is
unlikely that he had conceived the collection with a general theme in mind when
writing. And he probably wrote his sonnets when he felt like it or when a
client's request invited him to write. However, the vulnerability and variety
of emotions conveyed by the sonnets suggest that many of them were also deeply
personal and may reflect real events or personal relationships in his own life
that are now lost in time. Many seem to be focused on his innermost soul and
allow us to gain enticing insights into the artist in his most private and
vulnerable moments.
Shakespeare's sonnets are not his most extensive works, but they are
most accessible in many ways. Gaining recognition for these short and delicate
verses can only help the modern reader develop a better understanding of
Shakespeare, the artist, and build a bridge to his larger works, in which he
explores other, often darker, facets of human existence explored.
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