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William ShakespeareA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
The sonnet form was invented by Giacomo da Lentini in the 13th century in Italy. The sonnet, which is derived from sonetto, which means “little song” in Italian, is traditionally a 14-line poetic form that includes a turn, also known as a volta, highlighting a change in direction of the poet’s thought. Shakespeare’s sonnets are among the earliest English sonnets. The English sonnet arose from the Italian sonnet, or Petrarchan sonnet, named after the famous Italian Renaissance poet Francesco Petrarca who popularized the form.
The English sonnet was invented by Sir Thomas Wyatt, who brought the Italian sonnet to England in the mid-1500’s. Wyatt innovated the sonnet by modifying it from its Italian version. By lowering the number of similar rhymes, the sonnet became better suited to the comparatively rhyme-poor English language, offering a greater variety of rhymes through the quatrain divisions. The Earl of Surrey, a follower of Wyatt, gained great popularity for his sonnets. The height of the sonnet’s ascendance in England was from 1580-1600. Though Shakespeare did not invent the form, it is given his name because his sonnets are considered some of the greatest ever written. However, upon their publication in 1609, Shakespeare’s sonnets were largely ignored by the public, as the form had not been popular for approximately thirty years.
By William Shakespeare
All's Well That Ends Well
William Shakespeare, Barbara A. Mowat, Paul Werstine
A Midsummer Night's Dream
William Shakespeare
Antony and Cleopatra
William Shakespeare, Іван Франко, Barbara A. Mowat, Ivan Franko, Panteleimon Kulish, Cynthia Marshall, Ludwig Tieck, August Wilhelm von Schlegel, Paul Werstine
As You Like It
William Shakespeare, Barbara A. Mowat, Paul Werstine
Coriolanus
William Shakespeare, Roma Gill, William Aldis Wright, Francis Fergusson
Cymbeline
William Shakespeare, Harold Bloom, Gabriele Baldini
Hamlet
William Shakespeare, Israel Gollancz, Harold Bloom, Rex Gibson, Henry Norman Hudson, Max J. Herzberg, L.A. Sherman
Henry IV, Part Two
William Shakespeare, David Scott Kastan, David Bevington
Henry V
William Shakespeare, Barbara A. Mowat, Michael Neill, Paul Werstine
Henry VIII
William Shakespeare, Barbara A. Mowat, Paul Werstine
Henry VI, Part 1
William Shakespeare
Julius Caesar
William Shakespeare, Roma Gill, Harold Bloom, William Allan Neilson
King Henry IV, Part 1
William Shakespeare, David Scott Kastan
King Henry VI, Part 3
William Shakespeare, John D. Cox, Eric Rasmussen
King John
William Shakespeare, Barbara A. Mowat, Paul Werstine
King Lear
William Shakespeare, William James Rolfe
Love's Labour's Lost
William Shakespeare, Henry R. Woudhuysen
Macbeth
William Shakespeare, Jack Armstrong, Carmen Kahn
Measure for Measure
William Shakespeare, Barbara A. Mowat, Paul Werstine
Much Ado About Nothing
Gail Kern Paster, Robert Jackson, Barbara A. Mowat, Henry Norman Hudson, F.H. Mares, Henry Irving, Frederick S. Boas, Paul Werstine, William Shakespeare