The wish of overcoming mortality and gaining eternity is as old as the awareness of death. Many cultures and times have tried to succeed in this by various methods. Some built their dead enormous graves and buried their entire homes with them to guarantee a comfortable afterlife. Others mummified their corpses so that they might life forever. There is no religion that does not know the thought of afterlife, eternity or rebirth – be it the antique underworld Hades surrounded by the river Styx, the ancestor worship of many natural religions, the Buddhist belief of rebirth and incarnation or the Christian idea of eternal life in heaven or hell.
Besides the religious belief, however, there was another way for gaining eternity, especially in the upper classes of cultural western societies. They meant to gain eternity by creating something – a painting, sculpture or poem – that will last for centuries, perhaps for ever, and thus reminding the posterity of it’s creator. Some, however, used this method not for themselves but for others. They eternalised another person through their work of art for instance by praising the beauty or the virtues of a beloved or honoured person in verse. The main literal convention for doing so was the poem. Being a very common and possibly the greatest form for a love poem it is not surprising that the motive of giving immortality to the beauty of the beloved person is a very current motive in the sonnet, especially the Renaissance sonnet sequences. One of the greatest sonneteers in the English language, however, is one mostly known as the writer of plays like ‘Hamlet’, ‘Romeo and Juliet’, ‘King Lear’ and many, many others: William Shakespeare.
Table of Contents
1. Overcoming Mortality
2. Shakespeare as a Sonneteer
2.1 The Shakespearean sonnet form
2.2 The ‘Fair Youth’ and the ‘Dark Lady’
2.3 Differences to other sonnet sequences
3. Immortalising trough poetry
3.1 Sources of the motive
3.1.1 The Greek and Roman poets
3.1.2 The Italian and French poets
3.1.3 Shakespeare’s English predecessors
3.2 Variations of the motive
3.2.1 The ‘verse-monument’
3.2.2 The ‘paper-and-ink’ metaphor
3.2.3 The ‘heart-tomb’
4. Shakespeare’s usage of the motive
4.1 Pairs and Patterns among the sonnets dealing with the motive
4.1.1 Introduction of the motive in sonnet XVI, XVII and XVIII
4.1.2 Sonnets LXIV and LXV and sonnets LXXIII and LXXIV
4.1.3 Sonnets C and CI
4.2 Differences between Shakespeare and his Predecessors
4.2.1 Shakespeare never immortalises himself
4.2.2 Shakespeare is never proud and boasting
4.2.3 Shakespeare never wants his friend to be grateful
4.3 Variations of the motive used by Shakespeare
4.3.1 The ‘verse-monument’
4.3.2 The ‘paper-and-ink’ metaphor
4.3.3 The ’heart-tomb’
4.3.4 The fight against time
4.3.5 Sonnet XXXVIII
4.4 The Objects to Shakespeare’s eternisation
5. Shakespeare’s success in his aim to immortalise
Research Objectives and Themes
This academic paper examines the thematic significance of immortality in William Shakespeare's sonnets, specifically analyzing how the poet utilizes the literary convention of "eternalizing" his subject through verse as a response to the inevitability of death and the passage of time.
- Historical origins of the "immortality through poetry" motive in Greek, Roman, and Renaissance literature.
- Categorization of specific poetic metaphors, such as the "verse-monument," "paper-and-ink," and "heart-tomb."
- Critical analysis of Shakespeare’s unique variations compared to his contemporaries and classical predecessors.
- Investigation into how Shakespeare structures his sonnets in patterns and pairs to tell a cohesive story of resisting time.
- Evaluation of Shakespeare’s distinct personal approach, characterized by a mix of humility and creative self-assurance.
Excerpt from the Book
3.2.1 The ‘verse-monument’
It is not clear whether Shakespeare took the theme directly from sources like Horace or Ovid, or indirectly from other sonneteers like Spenser or Daniel. Anyway the topic was used in many renaissance poems, English as well as French and Italian ones in many variations. But besides the already mentioned differences in tone and especially in the person the immortality is gained for, there are some clear differences within the design of the topic. Cleas Schaar distinguishes three main forms of the motive. The variant Ovid and Horace used in their works is the one Schaar calls the ‘verse-monument’ topos. The poet is certain that he will be immortal as his work will be everlasting and read by his posterity and thus keep the poet as well as the person it is talking of forever in the mind of humanity and thus alive. This topic is mostly designed through metaphors of monuments. On the one hand those of stone and iron that will get destructed once and on the other hand of the verse as a monument that will last forever. This design was not only fashionable in the classical texts but also in renaissance poetry.
Summary of Chapters
1. Overcoming Mortality: Discusses the universal human desire to defy death through various cultural methods, transitioning into the specific literary tradition of using poetry to grant eternal life to a beloved.
2. Shakespeare as a Sonneteer: Provides a contextual overview of Shakespeare’s sonnet sequence, the nature of his addressees (the ‘Fair Youth’ and ‘Dark Lady’), and how his approach differs from established sonnet conventions.
3. Immortalising trough poetry: Traces the historical literary sources of the immortality motive and defines the three primary metaphorical variations (verse-monument, paper-and-ink, heart-tomb) used in Renaissance poetry.
4. Shakespeare’s usage of the motive: Analyzes how Shakespeare applies, adapts, and occasionally rejects traditional immortality tropes, focusing on his structural patterns, pairs of sonnets, and personal philosophical shifts.
5. Shakespeare’s success in his aim to immortalise: Concludes that while the identity of the ‘Fair Youth’ remains a mystery, Shakespeare definitively achieved his goal of artistic immortality, both for his subject and himself.
Keywords
Shakespeare, Sonnets, Immortality, Verse-monument, Fair Youth, Dark Lady, Renaissance literature, Time, Poetry, Metaphor, Petrarch, Horace, Ovid, Eternalization, Literary convention
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this academic paper?
The paper explores the motive of immortality and eternity within William Shakespeare's sonnet sequence, examining how the poet attempts to defeat mortality through the power of his verse.
What are the central thematic fields covered in the text?
The central themes include the historical development of the "immortality through poetry" topoi, the structural patterns Shakespeare uses in his sonnets, and his specific rejection or adaptation of classical and Renaissance literary conventions.
What is the author's primary research objective?
The objective is to analyze the unique ways Shakespeare employs the "motive of eternity" to honor his beloved and to determine if his approach represents a departure from the traditions established by classical and Renaissance predecessors.
Which scientific methodology is applied?
The work employs a literary analysis methodology, comparing Shakespeare’s sonnets with the works of classical authors (like Horace and Ovid) and Renaissance sonneteers (like Petrarch, Spenser, and Ronsard) to identify stylistic and thematic differences.
What topics are addressed in the main body of the work?
The main body covers the origins of immortality motives, categorization of metaphorical designs like the "verse-monument" and "paper-and-ink" metaphors, and a detailed look at how Shakespeare organizes his sonnets into narrative pairs to challenge time.
How would you characterize the keywords of this research?
The keywords highlight the intersection of Shakespearean studies, literary history, and the specific poetic tropes related to time, death, and artistic preservation.
How does Shakespeare’s approach to immortality differ from Petrarch’s?
While Petrarch was influenced by a strong Christian belief in the soul's immortality in heaven, Shakespeare's poetry is characterized as "never other-worldly," focusing instead on achieving eternity specifically through the survival of his written words in this world.
Does Shakespeare always maintain a tone of certainty regarding his power to immortalize?
No, the author highlights that Shakespeare is unique for his "self-doubting" tone in several sonnets, where he expresses uncertainty about his ability to truly triumph over time or occasionally rejects his own efforts as inadequate to represent the beloved's beauty.
- Quote paper
- Andrea Soprek (Author), 2007, Overcoming Mortality, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.hausarbeiten.de/document/161072
