Shakespeare's Sonnets

by Edmondson, Paul; Wells, Stanley

• ISBN13: 9780199256105
• ISBN10: 0199256101
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-12-09
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The sonnets are among the most accomplished and fascinating poems in the English language. They are central to an understanding of Shakespeare's work as a poet and poetic dramatist, and while their autobiographical relevance is uncertain, no account of Shakespeare's life can afford to ignore them. So many myths and superstitions have arisen around these poems, relating for example to their possible addressees, to their coherence as a sequence, to their dates of composition, to their relation to other poetry of the period and to Shakespeare's plays, that even the most naive reader will find it difficult to read them with an innocent mind. Shakespeare's Sonnets dispels the myths and focuses on the poems. Considering different possible ways of reading the Sonnets, Wells and Edmondson place them in a variety of literary and dramatic contexts--in relation to other poetry of the period, to Shakespeare's plays, as poems for performance, and in relation to their reception and reputation. Selected sonnets are discussed in depth, but the book avoids the jargon of theoretical criticism. Shakespeare's Sonnets is an exciting contribution to the Oxford Shakespeare Topics, ideal for students and the general reader interested in these intriguing poems.

Author Biography

Stanley Wells is General Editor of the Oxford Shakespeare and Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Early Publication of the Sonnets

History and Emergence of the Sonnet as a Literary Form

The Sonnets in Relation to Shakespeare's Life

The Form of Shakespeare's Sonnets

The Artistry of the Sonnets

Content of the Sonnets

The Sonnets as Theatre

The Place of 'A Lover's Complaint'

Later Publication of the Sonnets

Critical Reputation of the Sonnets

Ways in which Writers have Engaged Creatively with the Sonnets

Survey of More Recent Current Sonnet Criticism Treated Thematically

Sonnets and Performance

Conclusion

Further Reading

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