In the sixteenth century, sonnets became popular in England and were adopted by William Shakespeare. As well as being a famous playwright, Shakespeare wrote many sonnets. Tey had many things in common with Petrarchan sonnets (for example, both have fourteen lines) but there are also differences between them.
c While sonnets by poets other than Petrarch can be identified as being ‘Petrarchan’, ‘Shakespearean sonnets’ only refer to sonnets written by Shakespeare.
c Petrarchan sonnets were first written in the fourteenth century, while Shakespeare wrote his sonnets in the sixteenth century.
c Teir rhyming schemes are very different, as you will notice from the next two examples.
c Unlike Petrarchan sonnets, the themes in Shakespearean sonnets are not only about love – Shakespeare also focuses on death, friendship, poetry and other important issues.
Sylvia Plath's 'Cinderella' has a lot in common with a Shakespearean sonnet. Can you work out what it is by looking closely at the rhyming scheme?
POET PROFILE Name: Christina Rossetti (1830–94)
Nationality: English Fact:
Although Petrarchan sonnets are usually written by a man and addressed to a woman, Rossetti was one of the few prolific (very productive) poets who wrote sonnets from a female perspective (point of view).
