Sonnet 20

E512167

Sonnet 20 is one of William Shakespeare’s most discussed sonnets, notable for its exploration of gender, beauty, and desire in the context of the Fair Youth sequence.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Sonnet 20 canonical 2

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf English Renaissance literature work ⓘ
Shakespearean sonnet ⓘ
poem ⓘ
addressee Fair Youth ⓘ
addressesTopic distinction between spiritual and physical love ⓘ
male-male affection ⓘ
social norms of gender and sexuality ⓘ
approximateCompositionDate 1590s ⓘ
author William Shakespeare ⓘ
collectionTitle Shakespeare's Sonnets ⓘ
linked to: Sonnets
countryOfOrigin England ⓘ
coupletFocus division between emotional and physical love ⓘ
criticalReception one of the most discussed of Shakespeare's sonnets ⓘ
firstQuatrainFocus comparison of the youth to a woman ⓘ
form three quatrains and a final couplet ⓘ
hasSubject idealized male beauty ⓘ
limits of physical consummation ⓘ
tension between desire and social constraint ⓘ
language English ⓘ
lineCount 14 ⓘ
literaryPeriod Elizabethan era ⓘ
linked to: English Renaissance
meter iambic pentameter ⓘ
notablePhrase "master-mistress of my passion" ⓘ
"pricked thee out for women's pleasure" ⓘ
numberInSequence 20 ⓘ
openingLine "A woman's face with Nature's own hand painted" ⓘ
partOf Fair Youth sequence ⓘ
linked to: Fair Youth

Shakespeare's sonnet sequence ⓘ
publication first published in the 1609 quarto of Shakespeare's Sonnets ⓘ
rhymeScheme ABAB CDCD EFEF GG ⓘ
scholarlyDebate evidence for Shakespeare's sexuality ⓘ
interpretation of homoerotic elements ⓘ
nature of the poet's relationship with the Fair Youth ⓘ
secondQuatrainFocus youth's constancy and emotional superiority to women ⓘ
sequencePosition early in the Fair Youth sonnets ⓘ
theme androgyny ⓘ
beauty ⓘ
desire ⓘ
friendship and love ⓘ
gender ⓘ
homoerotic desire ⓘ
sexuality ⓘ
thirdQuatrainFocus Nature's addition of male sexuality to the youth ⓘ
usesDevice extended metaphor ⓘ
gender inversion ⓘ
personification of Nature ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu → hasPart → Sonnet 20 ⓘ