This thesis undertakes a study of Shakespeare's sonnets that seeks to locate them in the determinate historical circumstances of the moment of their production. Subjectivity in the sonnets is read as the location of a series of conflicts which are ultimately socio-historical in nature. Contemporaries identified the sonnet form as a discourse of the aristocracy, especially in its manifestation of courtly love. Shakespeare's sonnets attempt to manage the pressures that the history of the late sixteenth century impose upon this discursive formation from within the genre itself. The first and second chapters of the thesis set out the historical framework within which the generic requirements of the sonnet were played out, and discuss the tensions which result. Chapter three reads the first seventeen sonnets in the light of this work, arguing against a view of these particular poems as a homogeneous group of marriage sonnets. These sonnets set out the homosocial considerations that underpin the relationship between the addressor and the young nobleman in a way that foreshadows the conflicts that are played out in later poems. Chapter four traces these conflicts in terms of the subjectivity of the young man, noting that the historical crisis in the ideology of the aristocracy renders his subject-position unstable. Chapter five relates this result to the related subjectivity of the adressor, the poetic persona of the poems, and reads his position as noting the disjunctions in the dominant ideology, while nevertheless being unable to move away from its interpellation of his position. Chapter six notes the consequent disruption of gendered identity, both for the "dark lady" and the poetic persona himself. The conclusion argues for a materialist perspective on the sonnets' problematising of subjectivity in the Renaissance.

The present study explores the role and social status of children in the plays and in the sonnets by Shakespeare. I have attempted to trace the tension between accepted societal attitudes of the time and the underlying sympathy and compassion for children made manifest in the text through dramatic situation and language. / In the Histories and in the Tragedies, children are seen as pawns in adult power plays, while a disregard for a child's natural developmental progress is made apparent in both the Histories and the Comedies. Nevertheless at times, and particularly in the Tragedies and in the Romances, the actual children in the plays become agents of reconciliation and regeneration; in Macbeth, the victimized children acquire the status of a powerful symbol. The Sonnets, which deal with childhood as an abstract idea, foreshadow this synthesis of actuality and metaphoric tenor.

This dissertation offers fairly full readings of three early Shakespearean comedies. Because these works are still partly misunderstood, it has seemed reasonable to lay the critical emphasis on explication, though a certain amount of judging has been inevitable. The aim has been to induce recognition of aspects of these plays to which much modern criticism has seemed opaque.

Timon of Athens has been the subject of conflicting interpretations and evaluations. Those who have found it somewhat unsatisfactory have outnumbered those who have approved it. To explain its more troubling features critics have advanced two theories: first, that the play is written by Shakespeare in collaboration with another author; and second, that the play is all Shakespeare's but lacks final revision. This thesis reviews the critical history of the play, supporting the current general tendency to reject the theory of dual authorship and seeing design in the form of the play and consistency in the development of character and plot. The writer investigates the themes presented in the play, noting relationships to themes in other plays of the canon. The marked similarities in ideas, imagery, and diction between Timon of Athens and other Shakespearian dramas supports the view of those who regard the play as entirely Shakespeare's. In particular, the treatment given the themes of justice, mercy, grace, and regeneration and the manner in which death is shown to affect character demonstrates that the play is a link between the tragedies and the final tragi-comedies. The writer believes that the play is satisfactory and understandable if it is regarded as depicting the movement of the soul from the finite to the infinite conception of being. Timon is accordingly viewed as a type of Everyman. Biblical imagery and echoes are noted, particularly those lines recalling passages (in both the Old and New Testaments) dealing with atonement. The principal characters of the play, other than the soldier Alcibiades and the faithful steward, exemplify various phases of worldliness and material-mindedness. Alcibiades stands in a special relationship to Timon in that he remains loyal to him, punishes Timon’s enemies, purges the state, and finally restores order. However, Alcibiades is not above criticism for his actions involve the evils of civil war and disease. The steward, also, remains loyal to Timon. Through his pure love he is able to touch Timon and thus penetrate his misanthropy. As Timon grows towards death there are hints of his moving into a state in which sin is absolved and all faults forgiven. Some attention has been given to the stage history of Timon of Athens, in particular to the 1965 Royal Shakespeare Company production which proved theatrically successful. The treatment of themes similar to those of Timon in other plays is discussed from a theatrical point of view in an attempt to explain the greater popularity with theatre audiences of plays such as King Lear. / Arts, Faculty of / English, Department of / Graduate

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Thesis (M.A.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities, 2014.

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