A Comprehensive Guide to Shakespeare’s Sonnets

This book provides readers with the tools to unravel the complexities of one of the most difficult sonnet sequences, introducing the reader to the literary tradition, stylistic features and cultural contexts of the genre and the sequence, and providing close readings of more than 100 sonnets.

This combined approach enables readers not only to disentangle the complex relationships of the poems’ characters but also to appreciate their intricate philosophical, sensual and also subversive qualities.

Of the book’s two sections, the first, ＂Contexts and Forms＂, includes chapters on the sonnet tradition, early publication history, and the structural features of both the Shakespearean sonnet and the sequence. The second section ＂Themes＂ consists of six chapters and explores the main theme clusters that can be identified throughout the sequence. Additional features of the book include a guide to preparing a Shakespeare sonnet for interpretation, a model interpretation of a sonnet as well as charts and tables identifying and summarizing the sequence’s mini-narratives, groups, addressees and themes. For easy reference, the sonnets discussed in the book are cross-referenced and a detailed index includes key terms and names of works, characters and people. Suggestions for further reading are provided at the end of each chapter and the annotated bibliography includes brief descriptions of the most useful works for further study.

Roland Weidle is Professor of English Literature at the Ruhr University, Germany. He was Vice-President of the Deutsche Shakespeare-Gesellschaft from 2011 to 2023. His publications include two monographs on Shakespeare and the textbook Early Modern English Literature: An Introduction (2013) (German).