Assignment

Group no.3
Names: sadia kausar
Rameen Irfan
Areeba tanveer
Class: bs Eng literature
Subject: classical and
Romantic poetry…
Submitted to: prof.sadaf
Submitted by: group no.3
Date: 16th august,2023
Day: Wednesday
Topic: shakespearn ‘s
Sonnet…..
(1564 - 1616)
William Shakespeare:
Stands in the front rank of major sonneteers of the
Elizabethan Age.
The sonnets cover such themes as the passage of time,
love, infidelity, jealousy, beauty, and mortality.
The primary source of Shakespeare’s sonnets is a
quarto published in 1609 titled Shakes-peare’s Sonnets
by publisher Thomas Thorpe.
Shakespeare’s sonnets are composed of 14 lines, and
most are divided into three quatrains and a final,
concluding couplet, rhyming abab cdcd efef gg.
This sonnet form and rhyme scheme scheme is known
as the ‘English’ sonnet .
The sonnet are written in iambic pentameter, each line
has 10 syllables consisting of one stressed syllable and
one unstressed syllable
There are few exceptions: Sonnets 99,126, and
145.Number 99 has fifteen lines. Number 126 consists
of six couplets, and two blank lines marked , 145 is
iambic tetrameters, not pentameters.
Sonnets 1 to 126 addressed to a young man, his
friends, the Earl of Southampton.
Sonnets 127 to 152 addressed to a woman, the so so
called ‘Dark Lady’ of Shakespearean legend.
Shakespeare’s sonnets are also memborable for their
intensity of emotion, their sponteneity and their
musical effects.
His sonnets are characterized by the felicity of words
and phrases like,
 “ Love is not love
Which alters when its alternation finds.”
-SONNET 116
INTRODUCTION:

 He was born in Stratford Upon Avon .It is also

known as Bard of Avon.
 He was a National poet of England .
 No proper education system
 Didn’t have proper training and education as other
dramatist of the period.
 His stupendious acheivements are an enigma to all
scholars
 Marvelous imaginative and creative mind
 New life to old familiar works
 Trainings:Actors, Reviser of old plays, independent
dramatist
 Dominated the Elizabethan Literature
 Contribution: Two non dramatic narrative poems, 37
plays, 154 sonnets.
 Motifs of life: like death, birth, marriage,
religion,love.

Categories…
Categories of work:
 Comedy
 Tragedy
 Tragicomedy
 History

Shakespeare’s Tragedy…
 Characters become isolated or there is social
breakdown .
 Ends in death
 There is a sense that events are inevitable or
inescapable
 There is usually a central figure who is noble but
with a character flaw whichs leads them their
eventual downfall
Shakespeare’s Comedy…
 A struggle of young lovers to overcome problems,
often then result of the interference of their
elders
 There is some element of separation and
reunification
 Mistaken identities, often involving disguise
 A clever servant
  Family tensions that are usually resolved in the
end
 Complex, interwoven plot-lines
Frequent use of puns and other style of comedy

Main Features of Shakespeare

Universality
Versatile Genius
Art of Characterization
Profundity of Thought
Permanent values of his plays
Imagination Variety
Poetic Virtue Humor
Humanity Treatment of Love

Ben Johnson says:

“He was not of an age but for all time.”
Four periods of Shakespeare
1st period 1577-93
 2nd period 1594-1600
3rd period 1601-1608
4th period 108-1616
Character List….
 Othello (Hero)
 Desdemona
 Barbantio
 Lago (Villain) Roderigo(Nobel Man )
 Cassio
 Emilia
 Montano

Siblings of Shakespeare:
 Joan Shakespeare (1569-1646)
 Edmund Shakespeare (1580-1607)
 Margaret Shakespeare (1562-1563)
 Gilbert Shakespeare (1566-1612)

 Richard Shakespeare (1574-1613)

 Anne Shakespeare (1571-1579)
 Childrens of Shakespeare..
 Hamnet Shakespeare
 Judith Quiney
 Susanna Hall

Awards of Shakespeare…
 Lucille Lortel Award for outstanding
Revival.

Papolarity of Shakespeare..
He wrote the blockbuster plays of his day – some of
his famous are Macbeth, Romeo,And Juliet and
Hamlet. It has been almost 400 years since he died,
but people still celebrate his work all around the
world.
Shakespearen’s SONNETS….
The 154 sonnets of shakespeare’s sonnets are often
breath – taking ,sometimes disturbing and
sometime puzzling and elusive in their meanings. As
sonnets, their main concern is ‘’love’’, but also
reflect upon time , change, aging, lust, absence,
infidelity and the problematic gap between ideal
and reality when it comes to the person you love.
Even after 400 years , ‘what are Shakespeare’s
sonnets about ? and how are we to read them?’are
still central and unresolved questions.

The ‘Fair Youth’ sonnets……

Sonnets 1 to 126 seem to be addressed ta a young
man, socially superior to the speaker. The first 17
sonnets encourage this youth to marry and father
children, because otherwise [t]hy end is truths and
beauty’s doom and date ‘(sonnet 14)- that is , his
beauty will die with him. After this , the sonnets
diversify in their subjects. Some erotically celebrate
the ‘master mistress of my passion’ (sonnet 20),
while others reflect upon the ‘lovely boy’ (sonnet
126) as a cause of anguish, as the speaker
desperately wishes for his behaviour to be different
to the cruelty that it sometimes is . ‘ For if u were by
my unkindness shaken,/As I by yours,’ laments the
speaker of sonnet 120,’ you have passed a hell of
time’.

The ‘Dark Lady’ sonnets…

Sonnets 127 to 152 seems to be addressed to a
woman, the so called ‘Dark Lady’ of Shakespearean
legend. This woman is elusive, often tyrannous, and
causes the speaker great pain and shame. Many of
these sonnets reflect on the paradox of the
‘fair’lady’s ‘dark’complexion.As sonnet 127
punningly puts it, ‘black was not counted fair ‘ in
Shakespeare’s era, which flavoured fair hair and
light complexions. This woman’s eyes and hair are
‘raven black’ – two final sonnets (sonnets 153 and
154) focus on the classical god Cupid , and playfully
detail desire and longing . They donot seem to
directly relate to the rest of the collection .

When were Shakespeare’s Sonnets

composed?
The sonnets were probably written , and perhaps
revised, between the early 1590s and about 1605.
Versions of Sonnets 128 and 144 were printed in
poetry collection The Passionate Pligrim in 1599.

William Shakespearen’s sonnets:

William Shakespeare’s sonnets, a collection of 154
poems, are among the most celebrated works in the
English language. These poems provide insight into
the bard’s thoughts on love, beauty, time, betrayal,
and morality.
Written primarily in the form of the Shakespearean
or English sonnets, these poems have captivated
audiences for more than four centuries.
1.Historical Context:
Written between 1592 and 1609, the sonnets
reflect a period of intense creative output for
Shakespeare. He wrote many of his best known
plays during the time, and his sonnets are no less
polished or accomplished.
2. Form and Structure:
The Shakespearen sonnet is characterized by its 14
lines structure, divided into three quatrains and a
final rhyme couplet. The rhyme scheme typically
follows the pattern ABABCDCDEFEFGG.Each line is
written in iambic pentameter, a metrical pattern in
which it each line consist of ten syllables , or five
iambs.

Themes…
LOVE:
Many of the sonnets delve into the theme of
love – its complexities, beauty, and challenges.
Sonnets like ‘’Shall’’ I compare thee to a summer’s
day ?’’ ( sonnet 18) ponder the immortality of love,
while others like Sonnet 130 challenge conventional
romantic notions.
BEAUTY:
Shakespeare’s sonnets often link beauty
bwith truth. He explores the feeling nature of
beauty in sonnet 104: ‘’Three winters cold have
from the forests shook three summer’s pride , three
beauteous springs to yellow autumn turned’’.
TIME AND MORTALITY:
Time is often portrayed as a relentless force,
but through the act of writing, Shakespearen
grapples with the notion of preserving beauty and
love against the ravages of time . In sonnet 65, he
writes, ‘’ O fearful mediation ‘’ where, alack, Shall
times best jewel from times chest lie hid?’’
BETRAYAL:
Particularly in the later sonnets, Shakespeare
touches upon feelings of betrayal, often of a
personal and intimate nature , reflecting perhaps
the turmoils of his own life.
THE RIVAL POET SONNET:
Several sonnets describe a rival poet who is vying
for the favour of the Fair Youth. This ‘’rival poet’’ is
never explicity named but is believed to represent a
real figure in shakespeare’s literary world.
PERSONAL REVELATIONS:
While the sonnets are certainly artistic creations ,
many scholars believe they provide glimpses into
Shakespeare’s own life , his personal anxieties,
joys , and torments.

INFLUENCE AND LEGACY:

Shakespeare’s sonnets have had a profound
influence on English poetry. Poets such as
W.B .Yeats , Pablo Neruda, and Langston Hughes
have all acknowledged their debt to Shakespeare’s
sonnet tradition.
Death of Shakespeare:
He was died in April 23, 1616.