192 Pages
    by Routledge

    192 Pages
    by Routledge

    This edition first published in 1979.

    Discussing Shakespeare's sonnets in relation to sonnets by Italian, French and English poets, Kenneth Muir shows how they were influenced by Shakespeare's reading of Sidney, Erasmus and Ovid and discusses their art in terms of construction, sound patterns and imagery. He considers the relationship of the sonnets to Shakespeare's dramatic writing, while stressing the dramatic element in the sonnets themselves. Finally he surveys the changing attitudes to the sonnets during the last three centuries.

    1. Preliminaries (Date/Text/Order)2. The Vogue of the Sonnet3. Tradition and the Individual Talent4. Commentary5. Style6. The Truest Poetry7. Links with Other Works8. Critical History

    Biography

    Kenneth Muir

    'A fine and sensible survey of the sonnets The book serves both as a splendid introduction to the sonnets and as a corrective to some of the unsound theories and commentaries published ' - Choice

    'Kenneth Muir writes with refreshing sanity - The Times Higher Education Supplement