The Role of the Fool in Shakespearean Drama
Shakespeare's fools are the plays' most privileged speakers — the only characters licensed to say what everyone else knows but cannot say aloud.
Read the Analysis ›“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
Hamlet
Sonnet 7: Lo! in the Orient When the Gracious Light
Shakespeare turns the sun’s daily arc into an argument about reputation, decline, and the necessity of a son.…
The Fair Youth Sonnets: Who Was He?
The Fair Youth is the unnamed young man addressed in the first 126 sonnets. He is beautiful, admired,…
Iambic Pentameter: A Complete Guide
Iambic pentameter is the rhythmic pattern underlying most of Shakespeare's plays and all of his sonnets. Once you…
The Dark Lady Sonnets: Who Was She?
The Dark Lady is the unnamed woman addressed in Sonnets 127–154. She is unfaithful, sexually compelling, and described…
What Is a Shakespearean Sonnet?
A Shakespearean sonnet is a fourteen-line poem in iambic pentameter, following a specific rhyme scheme and structure that…
Sonnet 6: Then Let Not Winter’s Ragged Hand Deface
Sonnet 6 presses the urgency of Sonnet 5 to its logical conclusion — if beauty must be preserved,…