An examination of the sonnet from Petrarch to Browning. Essay -- Engli

An examination of the sonnet from Petrarch to Browning. A sonnet is a poem, which traditionally contains the subject of love. The creator of the sonnet was a man named Francesco Petrarca who was usually referred to as Petrarch. Petrarch wrote many of his sonnets based upon himself, and his lover, Laura. The conventional format of a sonnet contains fourteen lines, and is segregated to illustrate two arguments. Every sonnet takes the conventional format of fourteen lines, although the way the arguments are split up, may be different. For example, Petrarch and Elizabeth Barrett Browning's sonnet both take the format of an octave and a sestet, whereas Shakespeare's sonnet takes the format of three quatrains and a rhyming couplet. The arguments usually comprise of love juxtaposed against its opposite. For example, love versus hate, and love versus death. I have chosen to compare three sonnets. I will compare the subject of their sonnet, the form of the sonnet, and the way that they depict their argument in their sonnet. For example, how they have set out the sonnet, and their use of language. I have chosen to compare, Petrarch's, "XLL," and Shakespeare's, "Sonnet 138," and Barrett Browning's, "XLIII." The three sonnets that I have selected all contain the subject of love, but do not compose of the same aspect of love. The subject of, "Sonnet XXL," is about a woman named Laura, with whom the author Francesco Petrarch fell deeply in love with, even though she did not return his affections. Shakespeare's, "Sonnet 138," is about the experience of being in love. He writes from a masculine perspective, describing his lover as, "Unchaste, unfaithful, and dishonest." Elizabeth Barrett Browning's, "Sonnet XLIII,"... ...ar the most exceptional sonnet out of the three that I have chosen. I think this because of his motivating subject, and the way he has used different techniques of language and imagery. I think that his sonnet depicts the subject of love very well. Petrarch's sonnet was the second best sonnet out of the three, again for its subject. I felt that it didn't compose of the same ingredients as Shakespeare's sonnet, and it didn't contain as many uses of language and imagery as Shakespeare's did. I found that Elizabeth Barrett Browning's sonnet was not as good as the other two because of the way she used very little language and imagery, and because of the way that her subject was constant throughout the sonnet. All three sonnets portrayed their subject well, and used many techniques such as imagery and rhyme, which helped the reader understand each sonnet more.