Shakespearean Sonnets: Structure, Themes, and Characters
Shakespearean sonnets are typically composed of three four-line stanzas (quatrains) and a concluding two-line couplet, all written in iambic pentameter.[19] This meter is also prevalent in Shakespeare’s plays. The rhyme scheme follows an abab cdcd efef gg pattern. Sonnets adhering to this structure are known as Shakespearean sonnets.
Often, the beginning of the third quatrain marks the volta, or “turn,” where the poem’s mood shifts, and the poet expresses a revelation or epiphany. There are a few exceptions: Sonnets 99, 126, and 145. Number 99 has fifteen lines. Number 126 consists of six couplets and two blank lines marked with italic brackets; 145 is in iambic tetrameter, not pentameter. Another variation on the standard structure is found in sonnet 29, where the normal rhyme scheme is altered by repeating the ‘b’ rhyme of quatrain one in quatrain three, where the ‘f’ should be.
Characters in the Sonnets
When analyzed as characters, the subjects of the sonnets are commonly referred to as the Fair Youth, the Rival Poet, and the Dark Lady. The speaker expresses admiration for the Fair Youth’s beauty and later has an affair with the Dark Lady. It remains unknown whether these poems and their characters are fictional or autobiographical. Scholars who believe the sonnets are autobiographical, such as A. L. Rowse, have attempted to identify these characters with historical figures.[20]
The Fair Youth
The “Fair Youth” is the unnamed young man to whom sonnets 1–126 are addressed.[21] Some commentators, noting the romantic and loving language used in this sequence, have suggested a sexual relationship between them; others interpret the relationship as platonic love. The early poems in the sequence recommend the benefits of marriage and children. With the famous sonnet 18 (“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”), the tone shifts dramatically towards romantic intimacy. Sonnet 20 explicitly laments that the young man is not a woman. Most of the subsequent sonnets describe the ups and downs of the relationship, culminating in an affair between the poet and the Dark Lady. The relationship appears to end when the Fair Youth succumbs to the Lady’s charms (Sonnet 144).
Possible Identities of the Fair Youth
There have been numerous attempts to identify the young man. Shakespeare’s one-time patron, Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, is a common suggestion, although Shakespeare’s later patron, William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, has recently gained popularity. Both claims are based on the dedication of the sonnets to ‘Mr. W.H.,’ “the only begetter of these ensuing sonnets”; the initials could apply to either earl. However, while Shakespeare’s language often seems to imply that the subject is of higher social status, the apparent references to the poet’s inferiority may simply be part of the rhetoric of romantic submission. An alternative theory, famously espoused by Oscar Wilde’s short story ‘The Portrait of Mr. W. H.,’ notes a series of puns that may suggest the sonnets are written to a boy actor named William Hughes; however, Wilde’s story acknowledges that there is no evidence for such a person’s existence. Samuel Butler believed that the friend was a seaman. Joseph Pequigney argued in his book Such Is My Love that the Fair Youth was an unknown commoner.