Sir Thomas Wyatt deserves mention here as a primary source of influence for this era of the sonnet in English history, because many of the poems in the Devonshire Manuscript are attributed to him. Shakespeare’s work fits into the tradition of the Devonshire Manuscript, which is full of courtly love poems from Henry VIII’s court and Boleyn’s circle. “Sonnet 116” like several of Shakespeare’s other sonnets, expresses deep passionate feelings of love and a celebration for the mysterious essence of love. Shakespeare’s sonnets are best contextualized within the trend of courtly love poems written in the 16th century around the cult of Anne Boleyn. Shakespeare’s sonnets are believed to have been mostly all written and released in the early 17th century, which thus places his work within the historical influence of the Italian Renaissance and Elizabethan Era of English literary history. As we will explore, a study of “Sonnet 116” brings us to consider the historical and cultural context of Shakespeare’s works, and to appreciate Shakespeare’s enduring value to the humanities in inspiring us to tap into eloquent literary forms of expression to celebrate or explore the most important dimensions of human experience. Further, Shakespeare’s signature style of his sonnets was inspired by courtly customs in the Elizabethan era of English history. Indeed, the inspiration for “Sonnet 116” and Shakespeare’s other sonnets came from the English context of being influenced by the preceding Italian Renaissance. The beauty about studying Shakespeare is that any one of his works, such as “Sonnet 116” which we will be observing in this paper, opens our eyes to the lineages and trends of culture that have inspired countless other works of humanities for the past several hundred years. William Shakespeare is likely the most well-known literary figure in Western history, and thus an analysis of his works can deeply connect us to our cultural history.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |