Shakespeare Essay

Your Name

Mrs. Durrance

Shakespeare Essay

15 February 2005

Poems written during the Elizabethan time tend to contain an unrealistic view of love. Some writers of this time are Edmund Spenser, Christopher Marlowe, Sir Walter Raleigh, and William Shakespeare. They had different subjects, themes and styles. Some poetry readers prefer Shakespeare over the others, this essay will examine the reasons for his popularity.

The subjects of sonnets, by Shakespeare, normally address friendship. Other writers use passion. Most of his works have a young man "pining for love." "Sonnet 116" describes true love as a permanent feeling that does not go away with time, and when the physical beauty fades away. Although most writers focused on unrealistic love and stupid promises, Shakespeare did a good job to keep things real. Shakespeare wrote "Sonnet 73." "Sonnet 73" is a good example because real love will not just fade away with one's youth and physical beauty. Love must be deeper than that.

Shakespeare mimics the styles of others, to make fun of them. "Sonnet 130" is about a man who loves a woman despite her lack of physical beauty. "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; coral is far more red than her lips' red..."(288)

Shakespeare's theme is love; typically a young man searching for true love. Edmund Spenser's works are fourteen lines, three quatrains. Shakespeare also used fourteen lines and three quatrains. The difference between the two, is that Shakespeare's rhyme in inside the quatrain. In Spenser's works, the last line of each quatrain rhymes with the first line of the next.

Elizabethan poetry usually contains an unrealistic view of love. Writers from the Elizabethan time period, used different styles, themes, and subjects. Shakespeare is different from other writers in this time period. His theme, style, and subjects is what sets him apart. Poetry is important in today's society and many attribute that to William Shakespeare.