Myths In Shakespeare's Sonnets

Very little is known for certain about the life of William Shakespeare. Apart from a handful of dates it is all largely a matter of conjecture or surmises. During his lifetime, Shakespeare had written 154 Sonnets, and most of them detail themes of love. All of these Sonnets could be roughly divided into three major parts on friendship, time and love respectively, among which Greek-Roman mythological traditions and stories are spread like pearls to give twinkling points to them.Shakespeare's Sonnets, different from earlier sequences in so many ways, declares a major difference in its title. Previously English sonnet sequences followed the form of single lady titles—Alcilia, Laura, Castara, Delia, Diana, with the notable exceptions of Sidney's and Barnes's male and female, salt and pepper titles. There are Watson and Spenser who confer a name derived from the poems presented. And then there is Shakespeare's Sonnets, the starkest generalization people have in the English sequences—almost equal to the generality of Petrarch's Canzoniere or Rime sparse; and like Petrarch's sequence, Shakespeare's gets immediately engulfed in unproven and unprovable "stories" about the author's relation to the stories told by the poems.In Greek-Roman traditions, myths are of various kinds and tell a lot of stories. They describe the behaviour of the gods towards one another, their parentage, battles, squabbles and jealousies, their treatment of humans, in particular their championing or victimising of individuals, and their sexual encounters with them. Myths have no author, whatever their actual origin may have been, they exist only embodied in a tradition. When a myth is told, individual listeners receive a message that properly speaking comes from nowhere.When one reads through Shakespeare's 154 Sonnets, it is not difficult for one to find that there are various myths and traditional stories mentioned in the Sonnets, with the help of which, the Sonnets become vivid and interesting. In the chapters followed, this thesis will focus on some of the most noticeable myths Shakespeare had adopted. While giving analyses on the origins and development of the myths stories, the thesis makes clear how the stories give shining points to the Sonnets. Besides, this thesis touches upon the classical themes in the Sonnets, and tries to find out the relationship between myths and Sonnets.This thesis consists of three chapters.In the introduction part, the features of Sonnets and myths are analyzed from the aspects of the theme, structure and language through a literature review of relevant criticism.Chapter One discloses the relationship of the myth of Narcissus with the theme of friendship thus to urge his friend get married to beget children. It places emphasis on the former part of the Sonnets and gives vivid examples to support the idea of self-love and to urge his friend to get married.Chapter Two attaches great emphasis to the classical theme—Time. It penetrates the destructive force of Time and how in Shakespeare's Sonnets people at last find ways to conquer the all-mighty Time. It also cites examples from the Sonnets to support the idea of destructive Time and how to conquer Time.Chapter Three focuses on love and friendship in the Sonnets and also touches upon the functions of myths. It has a general description of the story of Time and Shakespeare's mistress and detailed study of the theme of the Dark Lady and love,The conclusion part summarizes that there lie different deep-rooted symbolic meanings of the myths concerning the themes of the Sonnets. Again it repeats the myths and the themes talked before.