Love in Shakespeare’s Sonnets Vinh University Foreign Languages department =====***===== Love in shakespeares sonnetss sonnets (Tình yêu thơ xônê cđa Shakespeare) GRADUATION THESIS FIELD: LITERATURE Student Class Supervisor Ph¹m Thị Hà Trần Ngọc Tởng (M.A) : : 45 E2 - English : Vinh, May 2009 Acknowledgements For the completion of the study, I have been fortune to receive invaluable contributions from my many people Phạm Thị Hà - K45E2 Love in Shakespeare’s Sonnets First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, M.A Tran Ngoc Tuong for his absolutely indispensable assistance, excellent suggestions, expert advice and detailed critical comments, without which the study would not have been completed I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to Mrs Le Thi Thuy Ha, who taught me English literature and suggest for me about this study In addition, I am greatly in debted to all my lectures at the Department of Foreign Languages- Vinh University for their endless enthusiasm and undeniable useful lectures My warmest thanks are due to my family, my relatives, my friends and classmates for all things they have done for me Finally, I am all too aware that despite all the advice and assistance, I feel that the project is far from perfect; it is, therefore, my sole responsibility for any inadequacies and short comings that the thesis may be considered to have Vinh, May 2009 Pham Thi Ha Table of contents page Acknowledgements .i Table of contents ii Part A: Introduction .1 Rationale for choosing the study Aims of the study Scope of the study .2 Methods of the study Design of the study Part B: Investigation .3 Chapter 1: Theoretical Background 1.1 England in the Renaissance 1.1.1 What is the “Renaissance”? Phạm Thị Hà - K45E2 Love in Shakespeare’s Sonnets 1.1.2 What is meant by “Renaissance”? 1.1.2.1 Renaissance: The revival of interest in Greek and Roman literature.3 1.1.2.2 Renaissance: The discovery of the world and human beings 1.1.2.3 Renaissance: The awakening of man’s mind, capacity, individual spirit and secularism .5 1.1.3 Renaissance in English society and literature .5 1.2 William Shakespeare’s life and career 1.2.1 His life 1.2.2 His career Chapter 2: An introduction to Shakespeare’s Sonnetss Sonnets and his homosexuality 11 2.1 What is a sonnet? 11 2.2 Types of sonnet 11 2.2.1 The Spencerian Sonnet 11 2.2.2 The Italian (or Petrarchan) Sonnet 11 2.2.3 The English (or Shakespearian) Sonnet 12 2.3 Shakespeare’s sonnets 13 2.3.1 Background of Shakespeare’s sonnets 12 2.3.2 The subject matter of Shakespeare’s sonnet sequence 14 2.4 Shakespeare’s homosexuality 15 2.4.1 Homosexuality in literature 15 2.4.2 Homosexuality in Western literature 16 2.4.3 Homosexuality in Shakespeare’s works 18 Chapter 3: Love in Shakespeare’s Sonnetss sonnets .21 3.1 Triangle love 21 3.1.1 Homosexual love between the poet and a Fair Lord 25 3.1.2 Heterosexual lust 30 3.1.2.1 Love between the poet and a Dark Lady 30 3.1.2.2 Love between a Fair Lord and a Dark Lady 35 3.2 Homosexual love vs Heterosexual lust 37 3.3 Summary 40 Part c: Conclusion 41 Recapitulation 41 Suggestion for further study 42 References 43 Phạm Thị Hà - K45E2 Love in Shakespeares Sonnets Appendix Part A: Introduction Rationale for choosing the study Literature, as well as music, is a vital part of our daily life It is true to say that “Literature is the voice of our hearts” It makes the life more beautiful and interesting Writers use language to write in poem, story to express their motion Whatever ways “Literature is the window of the soul” When I was a pupil, I was really interested in literature because my mother was also the teacher of literature And I indeed liked poems written about love There is a famous saying that “We are all born for love, it is the principle of existence and its only end” Love is the basic of happiness and social developments It makes people’s life more meaningful, more cheerful and enjoyable And in literature, love is one of the most popular themes Now, As a student of Foreign Languages Department, I have opportunity to study more about foreign literature, especially English literature I knew and learnt about William Shakespeare- the most influential writer in all of English literature Before, I only knew him through his well-known tragedy like “Romeo and Juliet”- a tragic love story Human beings have admired and kept in their hearts the famous love affair of Romeo and Juliet And all his other comedies and tragedies expose the desire of a world full of love, and love has been the only end to cure people from all kinds of sorrow and unhappiness I surprise at the bulk of Shakespeare’s sonnets including 154 sonnets A series of this is the same theme That is Love And this is the reason why I choose “Love in Shakespeare’s Sonnets” as the theme for my graduation paper Aims of the study For the reasons mentioned above, the study has been done in order to: - To understand more about England as well as English literature in Renaissance Age - To study William Shakespeare’s life and works, especially his love sonnets Phạm Thị Hà - K45E2 Love in Shakespeare’s Sonnets - To help teachers and students have more detailed information about William Shakespeare and his love sonnets if they are interested in Scope of the study - Studying the Renaissance, England in the Renaissance - Studying Shakespeare’s life and works - Studying only theme of love in Shakespeare’s sonnets - Studying and analyzing some sonnets that are sonnet 18, 20, 42, 116, 127, 130, 133 and 144 Methods of the study In order to carry out this study, due to the characteristics of the study, I have to base on some main methods: - Using analysis method - Loading documents from internet to study - Using collective method: collecting the materials in the course of English literature that concern the study - Studying documents dealing with the theme - Making the help of my supervisor- M.A Tran Ngoc Tuong Design of the study Chapter 1: Theoretical Background Chapter 2: An introduction to Shakespeare’s Sonnets and his homosexuality Chapter 3: Love in Shakespeare’s sonnet Conclusion References Appendix Part B: Investigation Chapter Theoretical Background 1.1 England in the Renaissance 1.1.1 What is the “Renaissance”? The Renaissance was the transitional period from the Middle Ages to the Modern contemporary times The Renaissance began in the 14th century in Italy and then spread to other countries in Western Europe, but became the most prosperous and important European country such as England, during the late 15th, 16th and 17th century There was an attempt at creating a new culture, which would be from the limitations of the feudal ideology of medieval times The epoch was Ph¹m Thị Hà - K45E2 Love in Shakespeares Sonnets characterized by a thirst for knowledge and discoveries, by a powerful development of individuality Frederick Engel regarded the Renaissance as the greatest progressive turning point that mankind had so far experienced, a time which called for giants and produced giants in power of thought passion and character, in universality 1.1.2 What is meant by “Renaissance”? According to Nguyen Chi Trung, (1998), the term “Renaissance”, meaning literally “rebirth” in French, was first used by Jules Michelle, a French historian (1780-1874) First of all, “Renaissance” means not only the revival of interest in Greek and Roman literature but also the discovery of the world and human beings More than that, “Renaissance” implies the awakening of man’s mind, capacity, individual spirit and secularism 1.1.2.1 Renaissance: the revival of interest in Greek and Roman literature According to Nguyen Chi Trung, (1998), in the Middle Ages, there were less people read and studied Greek and Roman literatures, because scholars were written by hand on parch made of animal skins So, they could hardly one read and study However, thanks to Petrarch’s and Boccacio’s enthusiasm in propagating the spirit of humanism in Greek and Roman literatures, and thanks to the invention of the printing machine, the number of readers of ancient writers increased greatly and the reading and studying Greek and Roman literatures became an interest In this period, the spirit of humanism became assimilated with the studying of those literatures And they could study manuscript of the old Roman easily 1.1.2.2 Renaissance: The discovery of the world and human beings In the Middle Ages, the majority of the people were kept under ignorance The Church did not want men to know his capacity Man was taught that they were created by God In the Renaissance, however, men greatly discovered for geographical and scientific In geographical field, Christopher Columbus discovered America; Amerigo Vespucci and Vasco da Gama discovered the Philippines; Magellan travelled around the world and discovered serveral lands and islands These great geographical discoveries opened new horizons and bright prospects for European people: they longed to discover other continents and people In scientific field, Newton discovered “Law of Gravity” And Galileo and Compenious discovered the stars and the stellar system, etc These scientific Phạm Thị Hà - K45E2 Love in Shakespeare’s Sonnets discoveries affected to men’s awareness about their position and effect in society It proved that men could everything and men owned their life, not God (Nguyen Chi Trung, (1998), p.21) Nguyen Chi Trung (1998) also states that the human beings in the Middle Ages completely lost their position and values The ideas and thinking of the Church taught them that “God” was center and the creator of everything God has a life after death in the heaven and the Church of Rome also taught them that men were symbols of evils and sins, that they were slaver in this temporary world They lived and waited for their emancipation from their earthly hopeless life They lived and prepared themselves for a futures life in paradise In the Renaissance, on the contrary, men were reborn They had the right to live and to everything what they wanted They felt more optimistic with present life Now, life was more beautiful and interesting for them They lived meaningfully and better 1.1.2.3 Renaissance: The awakening of man’s mind, capacity, individual spirit and secularism According to Nguyen Chi Trung (1998), Medieveal men depended on the “God” and despised materialistic and sexual But Renaissance men were quite different Discoveries of new lands, inventions, a more comfortable life, new economic political and social life created new will and eagerness in them Spiritually, they began to against the strict, cramped and austere pattern of life in the Middle Ages Throughout discoveries of ancient achievement and real life, men were astonished what they had been learned in the church Rome were not right, and that men could everything what they wanted to improve and to perfect their life in the Renaissance Renaissance men were no more subordinated to God For them, their life and happiness was here, on earth and it depended on their own strength and abilities to achieve it 1.1.3 Renaissance in the English society and literature Although England experienced to Renaissance later in comparison with other European countries, it quickly reached the greatness and glory and was considered as the peak of the renaissance culture During the 15th- 17th centuries, England witnessed a lot of growths and changes The development of capitalism resulted in a new economy and Phạm Thị Hà - K45E2 Love in Shakespeares Sonnets means of livelihood England now changed from a Roman Catholic country to a protestant country The development of a new social order presented great opportunities for man’s creativity In a word, England in the Renaissance grew prosperous and powerful and deserved to be called “Merry England” However, there were internal contradictions, disilutions and sadness in the society In all, England was then standing: “Between two worlds: one dead The others powerless to be born” This was reflected frequently in literary works at that time The Renaissance was the most ebullient period in English literature that marked the appearances and the growths of different trends, especially, the flouristing of drama Among the famous play wrights, William Shakespeare was the most outstanding 1.2 William Shakespeare’s life and career 1.2.1 His life From three sources, we know Shakespeare’s life: the church and legal records, the folk traditions, and the comments of his contemporaries Shakespeare was born on the 23rd of April, 1564, in Stratford-on-Avon, Warwicksire He got education in a local grammar school for a few years There he picked up the “small Latin and less Greek” When Shakespeare was about fourteen years old, he left school and became a country schoolmaster to help support his family In 1582, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway who was eight years older than her husband A few years later, Shakespeare went to London, where he first did some odd jobs It was said that he kept horses for the audience outside the play houses Then by 1592, he became an actor and a writer In 1593-1954, Shakespeare published his two narrative poems, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece In 1612, he retired from the stage and return to his hometown, where he bought a considerable estate and lived until his death on April 23 rd, 1616, at the age of 52 1.2.2 His career Phạm Thị Hà - K45E2 Love in Shakespeares Sonnets During the twenty-two years of his literary career, he wrote 37 plays, 154 sonnets and two long poems Shakespeare’s literary career may be divided into four major phrases which represent respectively his early, mature, flouring, and late periods 1.2.2.1 The first period (1590- 1594) It is the period of his apprenticeship in play-writing His work in this period relies not so much on character as on fine or witty speech and situation and bears the marks of youth, but of youth which astonishing versatility and wonderful talent The comedies are chiefly concerned with the affair of youth and full of romantic sentiment In historical plays, the dramatist tried to handle political themes and given historical lessons.(Nguyen Xuan Thom (1997) Besides, Shakespeare’s early plays show an extraordinary facility in expression and a felicity in the choice of phrases and epithetic And blank verse developed by him into a happy vehicle to express all kinds of thought and emotion freely * Historical play: • Henry VI, part 1, 2, (1590-1591) • Richard III (1592) * Comedy: • The Comedy of Errors (1592) • The Taming of the Shrew (1593) • The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594) • Love’s Labour’s Lost (1594) * Tragedy: • Titus Andronicus (1593) • Romeo and Juliet (1594) * Narrative poems: • Venus and Adonis (1593) • The Rape of Lucrece (1594) 1.2.2.2 The second period (1595-1600) It is a period of “great comedies” and mature historical plays The dramatist made an advance in every way and the general spirit is optimism In the historical plays of this period, different phrases of English life are sown before us There is a great lift in characterization and sources the dramatist employed in this period are many and diversified As a whole, this period is Phạm Thị Hà - K45E2 Love in Shakespeare’s Sonnets Shakespeare’s sweet and joyful time, in which he succeeds in portraying a magnificent panorama of the manifold pursuits of people in real life * Six Comedies: • A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595) • The Merchant of Venice(1596) • Much Ado About Nothing (1598) • The Merry Wives of Windsor (1598) • As You Like It (1599) • Twelfth Night (1600) * Five historical plays: • Richard II (1595) • King John (1596) • Henry IV, part (1597) Henry IV, part (1597) Henry V (1598) * A Roman tragedy: • Julius Caesar (1599) * 154 sonnets 1.2.2.3 The third period (1601-1607) It is a period of “great tragedies” and “dark comedies” In the plays of this period, the tragic note is aggravated The sunshine and laughter of the second period has turned into clouds and storms Even the comedies written in this period are known as “dark” because they give somber picture of the world The cause of such a change sought from Shakespeare’s change of moods as influenced by the social upheavals as the turn of the century There were plots and rising against Elizabeth In 1604, the Earl of Southampton, Shakespeare’s patron, was arrested by James I * Five tragedies: • Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1601) • Othello (1604) • King Lear (1605) • Macbeth (1605) • Timon of Athens (1607) * Three Comedies: • Troilus and Cressida (1602) Phạm Thị Hà - K45E2 10 ... more detailed information about William Shakespeare and his love sonnets if they are interested in Scope of the study - Studying the Renaissance, England in the Renaissance - Studying Shakespeare? ??s... they have this in mind and habits in their personal lives In its origins, homosexual love was an integral part of the pastoral tradition We can find the tinge of homoerotic idea in many of the... Homosexuality in literature 15 2.4.2 Homosexuality in Western literature 16 2.4.3 Homosexuality in Shakespeare? ??s works 18 Chapter 3: Love in Shakespeare? ??s Sonnetss sonnets .21