Shakespeare's Sonnets
Objectives:
- Identify a Shakespearean sonnet
- Identify and label the rhyme scheme
- Identify and label iambic pentameter
- Identify and label a Shakespearean sonnet's division
- Paraphrase a Shakespearean sonnet
- Analyze a sonnet, interpret a sonnet's mood, and represent it through music OR
- Write an original Shakespearean sonnet and set it to music
When you hear the name William Shakespeare, what comes to mind?
William Shakespeare
Shakespeare is the most influential writer in the English language. Four centuries after his death, he continues to occupy a central place in literary studies and in our culture at large. His plays are regularly performed around the world and have been made into numerous films.
Humble Beginnings
Most of what is known about Shakespeare’s life comes from court and church records. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, a small town in central England. His father was a successful businessman and town official, and his mother inherited farmland from her father. Shakespeare’s family was initially prosperous but began having financial difficulties in the 1570s. Shakespeare probably attended Stratford’s excellent grammar school, where he would have studied Latin and read classical authors.
No one knows what Shakespeare did immediately after he left school. In 1582, when he was 18 years old, he married Anne Hathaway, who was 26 years old. Six months later, they had a daughter, Susanna. In 1585, they had twins, a boy Hamnet, and a girl, Judith. Shakespeare’s son died at age 11.
Early Success as Actor and Playwright
Sometime around 1590, Shakespeare moved to London and began working as an actor and playwright. He went on to become the most successful playwright of his time, earning enough to buy a large house in Stratford, where his wife and children lived. Although he retired to Stratford around 1612, he continued writing until his death at age 52.
Shakespeare the Poet
In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare wrote an innovative collection of sonnets and two long narrative poems. In the 1590s, many English poets wrote sonnet sequences, which were usually addressed to an unattainable, idealized woman. Shakespeare expanded the conventions of the sonnet, making the form thematically more complex and less predictable. For example, the object of affection in some of his sonnets is not a divinely beautiful woman but a “dark lady” with all-too-human defects. He also wrote sonnets to an unidentified young man as well as to a rival poet. And while most sonnet writers focused primarily on love and beauty, Shakespeare addressed themes such as time, change, and death.
Because of his mastery of the sonnet’s form and his broadening of its content, Shakespeare remains the undisputed master of the English sonnet. Today, the English sonnet is often referred to as the Shakespearean sonnet.
Humble Beginnings
Most of what is known about Shakespeare’s life comes from court and church records. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, a small town in central England. His father was a successful businessman and town official, and his mother inherited farmland from her father. Shakespeare’s family was initially prosperous but began having financial difficulties in the 1570s. Shakespeare probably attended Stratford’s excellent grammar school, where he would have studied Latin and read classical authors.
No one knows what Shakespeare did immediately after he left school. In 1582, when he was 18 years old, he married Anne Hathaway, who was 26 years old. Six months later, they had a daughter, Susanna. In 1585, they had twins, a boy Hamnet, and a girl, Judith. Shakespeare’s son died at age 11.
Early Success as Actor and Playwright
Sometime around 1590, Shakespeare moved to London and began working as an actor and playwright. He went on to become the most successful playwright of his time, earning enough to buy a large house in Stratford, where his wife and children lived. Although he retired to Stratford around 1612, he continued writing until his death at age 52.
Shakespeare the Poet
In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare wrote an innovative collection of sonnets and two long narrative poems. In the 1590s, many English poets wrote sonnet sequences, which were usually addressed to an unattainable, idealized woman. Shakespeare expanded the conventions of the sonnet, making the form thematically more complex and less predictable. For example, the object of affection in some of his sonnets is not a divinely beautiful woman but a “dark lady” with all-too-human defects. He also wrote sonnets to an unidentified young man as well as to a rival poet. And while most sonnet writers focused primarily on love and beauty, Shakespeare addressed themes such as time, change, and death.
Because of his mastery of the sonnet’s form and his broadening of its content, Shakespeare remains the undisputed master of the English sonnet. Today, the English sonnet is often referred to as the Shakespearean sonnet.
Analyzing the Sonnet's Message
Shakespeare's sonnets develop a single idea over three quatrains and a rhyming couplet.
1st quatrain- the single idea is introduced and developed through comparisons and/or examples
2nd quatrain - the idea is developed further through comparison and/or examples
3rd quatrain - begins with the "turn", usually a word that shows contrast, like but.
Rhyming couplet - sums up the subject, making a final statement
1st quatrain- the single idea is introduced and developed through comparisons and/or examples
2nd quatrain - the idea is developed further through comparison and/or examples
3rd quatrain - begins with the "turn", usually a word that shows contrast, like but.
Rhyming couplet - sums up the subject, making a final statement
Analyze or Create
Demonstrate that you've met the objectives of our study of Shakespeare's sonnets in one of two ways: by analyzing a Shakespearean sonnet or by writing an original sonnet. Each choice is worth 30 points and counts as a Literature Assessment.
Analyze
Select one of four sonnets: 30, 73, 104, or 116. Analyze the sonnet's structure and content.
Create
Write your own Shakespearean sonnet. You may write in modern English, developing the topic over three quatrains with a summarizing statement in the couplet. Lines should be written using iambic pentameter and follow the rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet.
Analyze
Select one of four sonnets: 30, 73, 104, or 116. Analyze the sonnet's structure and content.
Create
Write your own Shakespearean sonnet. You may write in modern English, developing the topic over three quatrains with a summarizing statement in the couplet. Lines should be written using iambic pentameter and follow the rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet.