Shakespeare's treatment of the Sonnets

A detailed Summary of Shakespeare's treatment of the Sonnets


Shakespeare treated Petrarchan convention of the sonnets in his own way. First of all he changed the structure of the sonnet. Shakespeare's Sonnets have more than one motif. Man was the object of praise. Shakespeare presents woman not as godlike, wonderful, perfect creature but as human with all his defects. Woman became a vile creature, a demon trying to take over man's soul. Shakespeare also took note of physical love and more down-to-earth sensations connected with it.

The Petrarchan or Italian sonnet is a fourteen-line lyric poem written as an octave (six lines) followed by a sestet (eight lines). The rhyme scheme will never have more than 5 rhymes within it. The octave's rhyme scheme is constant as follows:

The final sestet however uses a variety of schemes but it cannot contain more than 3 rhymes additional to the two used in octave. Some examples of patterns used for the sestet follow:

The octave usually introduces some kind of problem or a doubt. The sestet resolves the problem or eases the doubt. Petrarchan sonnet does not have a couplet. Love for the lady is the only motif of Petrarchan Sonnets. Description of the mistress is detailed but at the same time exaggerated. The mistress


"Is't not enough to torture me alone,

Only my plague thus far I count my gain,

For example the first line of that sonnet ("Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will") may be interpreted in many ways. Will may represent the lover named William, a lover's penis for her every bidding or a vagina. Or lines 11 and 12:

Nor are mine ears with thy tongue's tune delighted;

3. Auxiliary verb meaning a future tense

Sexual subtexts are also presented in the Sonnets by the play on words. For example the word will. In the Sonnet 135 for example that word is used 14 times. If we would concentrate only on obvious meanings of the word will, it becomes impossible to understand. Some other meanings of the word will, used in the poem, are as follows:

Now those sexual subtexts become very clear.

"A woman's face with nature's own hand painted,



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Approximate Word count = 1475
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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