The extent to which Shakespeare derived the inspiration for his plays and Sonnets from the Bible has sparked debate for centuries. Although much research has been done on Shakespeare's plays, a comprehensive analysis of his Sonnets has been absent, until now. This book gives a detailed examination of Shakespeare's Sonnets, identifying their underlying spiritual themes at the religious and scriptural levels of interpretation.

Analyzes all of Shakespeare's sonnets in terms of their poetic structure, semantics, and use of sounds and images.

An Introduction to the Philosophy of Shakespeare's Sonnets by Richard Simpson is a path breaking piece of work deconstructing the nuances of Shakespeare's lyrical poems. The underlying premise that Richard Simpson works with is the that Shakespeare is describing a part of himself in his lyrical poems, as compared to his dramatic poetry where he is only building characters and breathing life into them. In this endeavour, the author of An Introduction to the Philosophy of Shakespeare's Sonnets brings out the true feelings, dispositions and judgements of Shakespeare as a poet. Simpson keenly traces the Renaissance philosophy of love propounded by Plato and contextualizes the same in the light of Shakespeare's sonnets. The underpinnings of An Introduction to the Philosophy of Shakespeare's Sonnets rest upon Simpson's explanation of scales of love and the various stages which the two scales of imaginative and ideal love go through in the light of Shakespeare's sonnets. The book is well laid out with an intellectually stimulating introduction that sets the tone for the future sections. Drawing parallels with philosophical thought of well-known scholars, Simpson is able to bring out a side of Shakespeare hitherto ignored by many. The seven chapters of An Introduction to the Philosophy of Shakespeare's Sonnets serve up a literary treat for the reader, be it for casual interest or for in depth research as one of the primary texts on Shakespeare's sonnets. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

"This book is intended for all readers interested in The Sonnets, and will appeal to all those who desire nothing more than to enjoy Shakespeare's greatest poetry."--BOOK JACKET.

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The sonnets are among the most accomplished and fascinating poems in the English language. They are central to an understanding of Shakespeare's work as a poet and poetic dramatist, and while their autobiographical relevance is uncertain, no account of Shakespeare's life can afford to ignore them. So many myths and superstitions have arisen around these poems, relating for example to their possible addressees, to their coherence as a sequence, to their dates of composition, to their relation to other poetry of the period and to Shakespeare's plays, that even the most naïve reader will find it difficult to read them with an innocent mind. Shakespeare's Sonnets dispels the myths and focuses on the poems. Considering different possible ways of reading the Sonnets, Wells and Edmondson place them in a variety of literary and dramatic contexts--in relation to other poetry of the period, to Shakespeare's plays, as poems for performance, and in relation to their reception and reputation. Selected sonnets are discussed in depth, but the book avoids the jargon of theoretical criticism. Shakespeare's Sonnets is an exciting contribution to the Oxford Shakespeare Topics, ideal for students and the general reader interested in these intriguing poems.

David Schalkwyk offers a sustained reading of Shakespeare's sonnets in relation to his plays. He argues that the la nguage of the sonnets is primarily performative rather than descriptive. In a wide-ranging analysis of both the 1609 quarto of Shakespeare's sonnets and the Petrarchan discourses in a selection of plays, Schalkwyk addresses such issues as embodiment and silencing, interiority and theatricality, inequalities of power, status, gender and desire, both in the published poems and on the stage and in the context of the early modern period.