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Theatrical Discourse in Shakespeare's Sonnets

Shakespeare, a man of theater, wrote a sonnet sequence. This is an unusual occurrence in English Renaissance since the writers of that time usually wrote either sonnets or plays but did not write both. The writing of sonnets and the writing of plays were largely separate enterprises, writing sonnets having more prestige. But Shakespeare inserted the theatrical discourse into his sonnet. That is, Shakespeare's Sonnets combined poetry and theater. This unusual combination of these two forms has historical significance for sonnets in English literary history. The theater side of Shakespeare's work appears to pertain to his role as an actor rather than as a playwright. Shakespeare does not use his poetry to erase his role in the theater but rather makes his shameful theatrical profession a part of his self-presentation. The merging of poetry and theater throughout the Sonnets, which was Shakespeare's life's work, suggests that Shakespeare worked on the two simultaneously, rather than moving from poetry to theater. This remains a thought provoking historical event, for at this time poetry and staged theater were vying for cultural authority in England. Shakespeare is not simply a dramatic poet, nor is he a working dramatist. He is an English poet-playwright. The Sonnets are not theater. Yet neither are they the Elizabethan nor Jacobean lyric. The Sonnets are poems not merely by a practicing man of theater but also about a theatrical man who tries to write them. This is what sets Shakespeare's sonnets apart from so much other great English Renaissance poetry.