Shakespeare’s sonnets have often been discussed in terms of the degree of their
autobiographical content. The question what role the persons which the poet addresses, a
young man and a dark woman, had actually played in the author’s life sparked as much debate
as the opaque initials “W. H.”, a dedication by Thomas Thorpe, who had published a Quarto
by the title of ‘Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Never before imprinted’ in 1609 (Edmondson / Wells
4). Some critics were led to conclude their research with triumphant statements such as
‘Shakespeare’s Sonnets. The Problems solved’, a title employed by A. L. Rowse in 1964.
Rowse claims to have spotted the identity of the young man, the dark lady, the rival poet, as
well as of “W. H.”. His edition of the sonnets also includes a chapter called “The Story: its
Outlines” (24).
Other critics have been focussing less on a coherent story with identifiable characters. In their
analysis, they often take a purely immanent stance and are more concerned with how the poet,
the speaking voice of the sonnets, establishes an identity, a private subjectivity and sensibility
and in the course of his amorous encounters engages in a struggle to keep them afloat. I want
to argue along the lines of those researchers who put the previously rather central issues of
homosocial desire and Platonic and Petrarchan love into the lager context of what Stephen
Greenblatt calls the “self-fashioning” of the Renaissance individual (1). He points out that
“the power to impose a shape” upon oneself or another person is a major issue in the English
Renaissance, the age of “the formation of identity” (1 / 6). According to Colin Morris, there
had been distinctions between “types and individual representation” as early as 1020 (33 /
65), but A. J. Piesse states that “self-interrogation” beyond a religious context began to loom
only at the beginning of the sixteenth century (634). In the 80s, Stephen Greenblatt and
Catherine Belsey stressed that “any formulation of identity must be seen in the light of
cultural context, that any exposition of self is a manifestation of a series of options, rather
than something intrinsically different from anything else” (Piesse 635). In his work Sources of
the Self of 1989, Charles Taylor differentiates along the lines of Plato and Aristotle between
the importance of context and interior self for the individual (Ibid 635).
Table of Contents
Introduction
“What is your substance, whereof are you made?” – The Formation of Identity in Shakespeare’s Sonnets to the Young Man
1 Emotional and sexual identity
1.1 The relationship of the poet and the young man in the light of Renaissance concepts of sexuality
1.2 Fashioning the young man: Towards an androgynous ideal
2 The philosophical formation of identity via Neo-Platonism
3 Art as a source of identity
3.1 Nature: Modelling body and will
3.2 Identity rooted in poetry
3.2.1 The sublimated young man
3.2.2 Epideictic praise and narcissism
Conclusion
Research Objectives & Key Themes
The primary aim of this work is to examine how identity is constructed in Shakespeare's sonnets, specifically exploring the poet's reliance on Renaissance concepts of sexuality, Neo-Platonism, and the aesthetic sublimation of the self through art. The central research question investigates how these resources are utilized to fashion a self-image that is constantly negotiated through themes of love, desire, and artistic creation.
- The role of Renaissance concepts of sexuality in shaping homosocial bonds.
- The influence of Neo-Platonic philosophy on the poet's construction of the ideal beloved.
- The process of poetic sublimation as a tool for preserving and idealizing the self.
- The tension between subjective identification and the instability of language in epideictic poetry.
Excerpt from the Book
3.1 Nature: Modelling body and will
Art figures in different ways in the sonnets. My decision to group nature under art has to do with the fact that the “concept of “divine ‘nature’” was closely linked to “its earthly correspondence, i.e. art” in the Renaissance (Pointer 91). Its “mystery and power” (E. Taylor 2) were discernible in “outward appearance(s)” as often described in sonnets which celebrate the beauty of a woman’s particularised body, her eyes, hair, hands etc. (Pointer 92).
One of the aspects of art is rejected as a device which makes “the foul beautiful” and usurps “the power of nature’s skill” (Pointer 94): “For since each hand hath put on nature’s power / Fairing the foul with art’s false borrowed face / Sweet beauty hath no name, no holy bower, / But is profaned if not lives in disgrace” (sonnet 127, 5-8). Those lines contrast with lines 1-2 of sonnet 20: “A woman’s face with nature’s own hand painted / Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion.” The fair youth does not need any cosmetics in an age in which other people, including men, made frequent use of them (Pointer 95). Perfume, too, was a way of hiding nature’s traces. It was “used to cover the smells of unwashed or diseased bodies” (Halpern 18). Considering the variety of images taken from nature, e.g. the depiction of the friend as a “rose” (sonnet 95, 2) and a “violet” (sonnet 99, 1) or his absence as the “winter” and his presence as the “summer” (sonnet 97, 1 / 11), there is reason to believe that nature is an influential force in the world of the poet. In sonnet 20, nature appears as a personification, giving the young man his current shape: “Till nature as she wrought thee fell a-doting” (10).
Summary of Chapters
Introduction: The introduction outlines the ongoing debate surrounding the autobiographical content of Shakespeare’s sonnets and introduces the concept of self-fashioning as a primary lens for analysis.
Emotional and sexual identity: This chapter investigates how Renaissance notions of sexuality and androgyny inform the poet's complex, often ambiguous relationship with the young man.
The philosophical formation of identity via Neo-Platonism: This chapter analyzes how Neo-Platonic concepts of beauty and procreation are utilized to construct the identity of the poet and his beloved.
Art as a source of identity: This chapter explores how nature is modeled through artistic intervention and examines the role of poetry as a mechanism for sublimating the self and immortalizing the beloved.
Conclusion: The conclusion synthesizes the findings, arguing that the sonnets represent a continuous, reflexive process of self-fashioning that reveals the inherent instability of the subject in Renaissance poetry.
Keywords
Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Self-fashioning, Neo-Platonism, Renaissance, Identity, Epideictic praise, Sublimation, Homosocial desire, Narcissism, Subjectivity, Petrachan, Gender, Androgyny, Psychoanalysis, Language.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper fundamentally explores the construction of identity in Shakespeare’s sonnets, specifically examining how the poet uses cultural and philosophical frameworks like Neo-Platonism to create an idealized self.
Which thematic areas are most central to the analysis?
Key thematic areas include Renaissance sexuality, the philosophical roots of Neo-Platonic love, the role of artistic creation in self-preservation, and the narcissistic dynamics of poetic praise.
What is the primary objective or research question?
The objective is to explore the resources the poet uses to construct identity and how those resources function in the creation of a 'self-speaking subject' within the sonnets.
Which academic methodologies are applied in this work?
The analysis incorporates literary criticism, cultural history, and psychoanalytic perspectives, particularly by applying concepts such as Greenblatt’s 'self-fashioning', Foucault’s discourse on sexuality, and Lacan’s 'mirror stage'.
What topics are covered in the main body of the text?
The main body treats the tension between homosocial desire and Renaissance morality, the transformation of nature into art, and the shift from visionary language to a 'poetics of a double tongue' as the poet's idealization of his friend collapses.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Keywords include self-fashioning, Shakespeare’s sonnets, Neo-Platonism, identity formation, sublimation, epideictic praise, and the instability of language.
How does the author interpret the figure of the young man in the context of Neo-Platonism?
The author argues that the young man is constructed as an 'ultimate ideal'—a vessel of beauty that reflects the poet's own philosophical aspirations, even when the relationship itself proves to be deeply flawed.
What role does the 'dark lady' play in the poet's construction of identity?
The dark lady is presented as a distorting mirror to the young man; she represents the physical and archaic side of desire, which ultimately forces the poet to confront the limitations of his idealized, Neo-Platonic construct.
Why does the poet utilize a 'poetics of sublimation'?
Sublimation serves as an alchemical tool to distill beauty and preserve it against time, effectively creating a 'poetic vessel' where the friend’s existence can be made eternal through language, even as the poet struggles with his own disillusionment.
- Quote paper
- Anne Thoma (Author), 2006, “What is your substance, whereof are you made?” The formation of identity in Shakespeare’s Sonnets to the Young Man, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/83235
