Shakespeare SONNET 20 | Close Reading, Summary & Analysis

[@RikkiArundel]

Interesting interpretation - This is a sonnet I have spent many years trying to understand fully - for now let me comment on just one line "A man in hue, all hues I his controlling" This is a pivotal line in the sonnet - Hue was a common word for colour or shades of colour often used by Shakespeare. It doesn't make sense now, because we no longer have Sumptuary laws - but in Elizabethan times there were strict rules about what colours people could wear - it was important that connomers were not able to pass themselves off as nobility, so only the nobility could wear all colours and only the royal family and the higher ranking nobility could wear Purple. One person stands out as a result - Henry Wriothesley the 3rd Earl of Southampton who would become Shakespeares patron and to whom the two long poems Venus and Adonis (1593) and The Rape of Lucrece (1594) were both dedicated. As an earl, young Henry would have "all hues in his controlling," and we know from paintings of him as a young man and one depicting him as a woman, that he fits the description at the beginning of this sonnet perfectly - This to me is the most compelling evidence that Henry was the "Fair Youth" and other research I have conducted indicates that the second half of this sonnet expresses Shakespeares unrequited love for this effeminate man - someone today we might consider a Trans woman. Shakespeare spent his life working with young men who dressed as women - and we know from research done on this topic and the Bejing Opera who also had men/boys playing female roles that many boy actors lived much of their lives off stage as women. Shakespeare also lived at a time of expreme oppression of L:GBTQ people - Elizabeth 1 had reenacted the Buggery Act and, although few people were charged, it was a constant threat - and the reason why Shakespeares love of Henry would always remain unrequited. The sonnets were not written for public consumption and were not published until very late in Shakespeares life. I have written a recent article on Shakespeares lost years and the LGBTQ culture in 16th century yu may fid interesting - www.linkedin.com/pulse/uncovering-hidden-threads-shakespeares-lost-years-lgbtq-rikki-arundel-zwote/?trackingId=VN0SOWizkwt9ZlyPZjpnfg%3D%3D

[@marlacoh]

Thank you for your interpretations - especially regarding the lost pronunciations of words and how their meanings can be interpreted with implied puns.

[@luciferchan-ui5fy]

"Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth", makes it seem like the young man's gaze turns everything it sees into gold therefore beautifying the "Object" or making the "Object" more valuable. But it also made me think of King Midas who turned everyone he touched into gold therefore stopping their motion/movements; maybe the gilding part doesn't refer to gold specifically but rather how anyone who makes contact with the young man's eyes stops dead in their track, to look at him, mesmerized by his beauty. Also, the line "And for a woman wert thou first created " seems like Shakespeare reversed the creation story from Genesis.

[@GabrielaGonzalez-hq1fh]

You're outstanding doing this!!! So clear and enjoyable! Congratulations 🎉

[@sahibsodhi9611]

One of the best sonnet poem out of all of them

[@hotellasilverleaf8996]

excelent poem by wiliam shakespare

[@manyagrover1385]

This was so helpful !!! Thanks for this ♥️

[@utsabpaul1562]

Good explanation

[@leowald1]

Do we know something about how rhythmically sonnets were read?

[@closereadingpoetry]

Partly, yes, since the meter (patterned rhythm) of the sonnets hasn't changed significantly. Did you have something in mind?

[@leowald1]

@@closereadingpoetry First, it is about the speed that the poem is read. If one hears the poem the first time it is difficult to absorb the information if the poem is read fluently. If read slower and with pauses there is more time for reflection. Secondly, how clearly was the iambic rhythm stressed in Shakespeare's time - influencing the balance between the words and the music in the poem.

[@thepaperperson_gay]

I love these analyses so much! Thank you!

[@thepaperperson_gay]

has nothing to do with me having 'gay' in my username

[@Laocoon283]

Do you think he was referring to his self in these poems? Perhaps he's saying to himself instead of having kids he's gonna focus on his work. Kinda of an inner conflict he's working out in the 3rd person.

[@closereadingpoetry]

Hmm I could see that working for some of the sonnets. Perhaps sonnet 1, 2, 4. But the interpersonal dynamic is complicated in the sonnets following 12, in which the lyrical "I" is introduced.