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.
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
English Renaissance literature work
ⓘ
Shakespearean sonnet ⓘ poem ⓘ |
| addressee | Fair Youth NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| addressesTopic |
distinction between spiritual and physical love
ⓘ
male-male affection ⓘ social norms of gender and sexuality ⓘ |
| approximateCompositionDate | 1590s ⓘ |
| author | William Shakespeare NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| collectionTitle | Shakespeare's Sonnets NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| 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 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| 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
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Shakespeare's sonnet sequence NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| 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 ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject surface form:
All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu