The Sonnet Sequence: A Study of Its Strategies (Studies in Literary Themes and Genres)

Studies in Literary Themes and Genres SeriesSeries Editor, Ronald Gottesman, University of Southern CaliforniaWhen the thematic approach is called for in the study of American or English literature, Twayne's Studies in Literary Themes and Genres Series is first choice in reference material. This series is the first to investigate comprehensively yet concisely continuities and changes within individual literary themes and genres. Each book includes:an overview of the evolution of the theme or genre in-depth analyses of four to six exemplary texts an extensive annotated list of works for further reading a discursive critical bibliography a chronology of major authors, works, and historical events of importance in the development of the theme or genreIdeal for classes studying the sonnets of John Donne or Shakespeare, this complete introduction examines all stages of the genre's development from it's thirteenth to twentieth-century form. Such greats as Dante, John Donne, William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Rainer Maria Rilke are discussed, and four sonnet sequences are identified and explained: the formal, narrative, lyrical, and philosophical.