Shrank, C. (2009) Reading Shakespeare's sonnets: John Benson and the 1640 poems. Shakespeare, 5 (3). 271 - 291 . ISSN 1745-0918
Abstract
This essay reviews critics’ generally hostile responses to John Benson's 1640 edition of Shakespeare's Poems, in which he reorders the sonnets and groups many into longer poems. It argues that Benson's treatment of the 1609 Sonnets is a response to the literary tastes of his time (for example, his promotion of the text as a collection of “Poems” rather than sonnets, and his emphasis on Shakespeare's status as a gentleman). It also suggests that we should see Benson's edition as a critical, and often sensitive, reading of Shakespeare's Sonnets, which reacts to an ambiguity in the 1609 quarto, as to whether it is a sonnet sequence or a miscellany.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2009 Taylor and Fracnis. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Shakespeare. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | critical tradition, editing, reading, miscellanies, print, publication history, sonnet sequences |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > School of English (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 10 Jun 2014 12:26 |
Last Modified: | 20 Mar 2018 19:39 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17450910903138054 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/17450910903138054 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:79005 |