About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherOxford University Press, Incorporated

ISBN-100199256101

ISBN-139780199256105

eBay Product ID (ePID)30763416

Product Key Features

Number of Pages208 Pages

Publication NameShakespeare's Sonnets

LanguageEnglish

SubjectShakespeare, European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh

Publication Year2004

TypeTextbook

AuthorPaul Edmondson, Stanley Wells

Subject AreaLiterary Criticism

SeriesOxford Shakespeare Topics Ser.

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height0.7 in

Item Weight12.2 Oz

Item Length8 in

Item Width5.3 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceScholarly & Professional

LCCN2005-271288

Dewey Edition22

Reviews'This is an admirably clear book about obscurity. The authors ask many impossible questions, then satisfy our curiosity while leaving them unanswered. The Sonnets are already opaque as we approach them. The famous introductory dedication to Mr W.H. has inspired volumes of misplaced ingenuity,enough to shadow the poems themselves. Trying to find Mr W.S. inside those 2000 enigmatic lines needs sense, sensibility, time, curiosity, patience and scholarship. Edmondson and Wells have those qualities. Though the centre of the labyrinth is never reached, they are lively and trustworthy guides.'Tom Deveson, Around the Globe, 'This is an admirably clear book about obscurity. The authors ask many impossible questions, then satisfy our curiosity while leaving them unanswered. The Sonnets are already opaque as we approach them. The famous introductory dedication to Mr W.H. has inspired volumes of misplaced ingenuity, enough to shadow the poems themselves. Trying to find Mr W.S. inside those 2000 enigmatic lines needs sense, sensibility, time, curiosity, patience and scholarship. Edmondson and Wells have those qualities. Though the centre of the labyrinth is never reached, they are lively and trustworthy guides.'Tom Deveson, Around the Globe d Summer 2005, 'elegant...This book is excellent on links between theatre and sonnets...The book is also a consideration, even a celebration, of what, precisely, makes Shakespeare's verse so compelling.'TLS, 'elegant...This book is excellent on links between theatre andsonnets...The book is also a consideration, even a celebration, of what,precisely, makes Shakespeare's verse so compelling.'TLS

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal821.3

Table Of Content1. Introduction2. The Early Publication of the Sonnets3. History and Emergence of the Sonnet as a Literary Form4. The Sonnets in Relation to Shakespeare's Life5. The Form of Shakespeare's Sonnets6. The Artistry of the Sonnets7. Content of the Sonnets8. The Sonnets as Theatre9. The Place of 'A Lover's Complaint'10. Later Publication of the Sonnets11. Critical Reputation of the Sonnets12. Ways in which Writers have Engaged Creatively with the Sonnets13. Survey of More Recent Current Sonnet Criticism Treated Thematically14. Sonnets and Performance15. Conclusion16. Further Reading

SynopsisThe 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., 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., 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 naive 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."

LC Classification NumberPR2848