Sonnets are traditionally fourteen line poems written in iambic pentameter. They often adhere to either a Shakespearean, Petrarchan, or Spenserian rhyme scheme, or they can contain a mixture known as a diaspora rhyme scheme. Many times, sonnets...

Although Shakespeare’s sonnets are frequently read as well as quoted as individual poems, they are threaded together as a series by a number of recurrent themes and characters—for instance, the characters of the young man and the dark lady, and...

When Sir Thomas Wyatt decided to introduce the sonnet to England, the result was unexpected to say the least. While Wyatt had been known for lighter riddles, songs and satires, he nevertheless made the surprising choice to focus on a brooding...

Although Shakespeare’s Sonnet 94 differs in many ways from the other sonnets written at the same time, it has become a popularly studied and explicated sonnet, drawing attention from academics for several reasons, including the strange shift in...

In Shakespeare’s Sonnet 35 we delve deeply into Shakespeare’s thoughts, emotions and frustrations with his lover, the young man (the Fair Youth), which was brought about by an apparent betrayal through infidelity. Within this sonnet and those...

Seen from the surface, Shakespeare’s Sonnet 27 is a lament for the absent beloved. However, when regarded from a more careful perspective, it rather implies a mental voyage that unveils the speaker’s inner reality and his state of mind. As in many...

John Milton and William Shakespeare both address topics of love and death in their respective sonnets, but do so in radically different ways. They employ different structural techniques and subjects within the realm of love and death, and in doing...

William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 144 begins by declaring an infatuation with two opposing forces. These forces, “comfort and despair,” are often the two strongest emotions evoked after one falls prey to sexual temptation. Underlying sexism in the...

William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 19 presents the concept of time as a destructive force that is omnipotent and all consuming; a creature of various forms, all monstrous, set on tearing apart all that is and has been known in the world, even...

Although time causes man to grow and reach his apex, it also brings him to his decline and eventual death, thereby making time a complicated friend as well as foe. Is growth and aging just a slow ride to our tombs, or is there something we can...

While no scholars definitively know what Shakespeare believed, in terms of his religious views, his works (and particularly his sonnets) are replete with religious language and references. However, many times, this seemingly biblical and divine...

In his sonnet beginning, “That Time of Year Thou Mayst in me Behold”, William Shakespeare examines the natures of death and love. Shakespeare’s speaker addresses the sonnet to an unknown third party, presumably his lover, and reflects on his...

Shakespeare’s sonnets justify the rigorous fixation of beauty standards that dictate the human race by cultural, social and political means. This essay analyzes the first four sonnets of Shakespeare’s collection, which both bluntly satirize human...

The sonnet is unique among poetic forms. Its appeal has spanned five centuries and has managed to keep up with dramatic shifts in literary and philosophical movements during this time. There is a common perception that the sonnet has a requirement...

As humanity has evolved, individuals have become increasingly self-interested and insensitive toward others; morals and values within texts are subconsciously adapted to reflect these changes to suit the modern society in which we live. Exposure...

On the surface, William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 144” presents men and women in chiaroscuro, or strong contrasts. Since this sonnet is one of his later ones, and thus adopts a scornful and misogynistic tone after the mysterious Dark Lady steals away...

Sonnet 116 and the Great Gatsby both present love and commitment as inextricably linked, with commitment seen as an integral part of true love. Contrastingly, The Scrutiny gives a humorous take on the idea of committed relationships, and presents...

This excerpt from Shakespeare’s Henry VIII describes Cardinal Wolsey’s reaction to his sudden dismissal from his position as advisor to the king. On a deeper level, this soliloquy displays Wolsey’s unfiltered and complex emotions as he thinks out...

Upon his dismissal from King Henry’s court in Henry VIII by William Shakespeare, Cardinal Wolsey deeply contemplates the circumstances for his sudden downfall. Having been left alone by other characters, he proceeds to give a soliloquy whereby he...

Shakespeare and Sex How do Venus and Adonis and Rape of Lucrece together serve as an interrogation of sexuality? What’s the message? The only works Shakespeare personally published, Venus and Adonis and Rape of Lucrece, were written and published...

One of the major themes of The Merry Wives of Windsor is the change in gender roles that was happening in Shakespeare’s time. Gender roles were changing to allow women more freedom and power. In the play, men are depicted as fools, delusional,...

The purpose of this essay is to discuss Shakespeare’s intention in using medical detail within his plays. The use of medical allusion is a frequent occurrence in Shakespeare’s works, touching upon a wide variety of topics in the sphere of physic;...

“The parallel-text ‘good’/’bad’ investigations which characterise textual approaches to Shakespeare cause as many problems as they solve” (MAGUIRE 1996: 14).Investigating the authority of the first quartos of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and ...