For Monday: The Sonnets, #'s 15, 20, 22, 23, 25, & 29

A portrait of Shakespeare? We'll never know, just like we don't know if the Sonnets are his private letters, or a very public performance...

For Monday, read another handful of Sonnets, anywhere from 15-30, or the ones I've listed above: 15 (again, since it's a good one), 20, 22, 23, 25, & 29. Then answer TWO of the following questions for class:

Q1: Many of the early sonnets seem to express a philia, or sincere friendship between the poet and the young man (as in Sonnet 1). Do you detect a change in the Sonnets as they hit the 20's? What specifically seems to change, and where might we sense an element of eros? Do you think the poet addressing them to a different audience? Clues?

Q2: Shakespeare loves to make references to the stage and acting in his work, and especially in his Sonnets. Where do you see any allusions or metaphors to the world of the stage in these poems? A quick example: (Sonnet 15), "That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows." :) 

Q3: Reading between the lines of these poems, how does the poet reveal something about his personal life or concerns? What is his relationship to the young man (or whomever he's writing to)? Are they of the same age? Class? Profession? How can we tell?

Q4: Discuss something interesting, unique, or puzzling you find in one of the Sonnets. It could be strange syntax, beautiful sounds/rhymes, strange metaphors, or uncertain pronouns. What do you find strange/interesting about this, and how does it affect the poem itself?