Synopses & Reviews
An approachable and indispensable guide to Shakespeares sonnetsShakespeares sonnets are the greatest single work of lyric poetry in English, as passionate, daring, intimate, and moving as any love poems we may encounter. And yet, they are often misunderstood—as W. H. Auden remarked, “more nonsense has been talked and written, more intellectual and emotional energy expended in vain, on the sonnets of Shakespeare than on any other literary work in the world.”
Ideas of Order instills pleasure in this extraordinary verse, revealing an underlying narrative within the 154 poems that illuminates the work—providing a guide that inspires a new understanding of this complex masterpiece. The Elizabethan scholar and former Harvard University president Neil L. Rudenstine makes a compelling case for the existence of a dramatic arc within the work through an expert interpretation of distinct groups of sonnets in relationship to one another.The sonnets show us a poet in turmoil who falls for a young man who returns his affections—and the love is utterly transformative, binding him in such an irresistible way that it survives a number of heartbreaks. The poet and young man are equally attracted to a "dark lady," and both become enmeshed with her in an affair of lust and betrayal.
Rudenstines intimate reading explores the relationship between major groups of poems: the expressions of love, the transgressions, the longings, the jealousies, and the reconciliations. Along with his expert critical narrative, Ideas of Order includes all of Shakespeare's sonnets. This enlightening book is an invaluable companion for Shakespeare neophytes and experienced readers alike.
Synopsis
Shakespeares sonnets are the greatest single work of lyric poetry in English, as passionate and daring as any love poems we may ever encounter, and yet, they are often misunderstood.
Ideas of Order: A Close Reading of Shakespeares Sonnets reveals an underlying structure within the 154 poems that illuminates the entire work, and provides a guide—for first-time readers as well as scholars—that inspires a new understanding of this complex masterpiece. Elizabethan scholar and former Harvard University president Neil L. Rudenstine makes a compelling case for the existence of a dramatic arc within the work through an expert interpretation of distinct groups of sonnets in relationship to one another. The sonnets show us a poet in turmoil whose love for a young man—who returns his affections—is utterly transformative, binding him in such an irresistible way that it survives a number of infidelities. And the poet and the young man are drawn in to a cycle of lust and betrayal by a "dark lady," a woman with the "power to make love groan."
Rudenstines reading unveils the relationship between major groups of poems: the expressions of love, the transgressions, the longings, the jealousies, and the reconciliations. This critical analysis is accompanied by the text of all of Shakespeares sonnets. Accessible and thought-provoking, Ideas of Order is an invaluable companion to this cornerstone of literature.
About the Author
Neil L. Rudenstine graduated from Princeton University, was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, earned his PhD in English Literature at Harvard, and remained on Harvards faculty until 1968. After two decades as Professor, Dean, and Provost at Princeton, he was President of Harvard University from 1991 to 2001. He is currently a trustee of the Barnes Foundation and is chair of the boards of ARTstor, the New York Public Library, the Rockefeller Archive Center, as well as vice-chair of the board of the J. Paul Getty Trust. His several books include Sidneys Poetic Development; English Poetic Satire (with G.S. Rousseau); In Pursuit of the PhD (with W. G. Bowen); Pointing Our Thoughts; and The House of Barnes: The Man, The Collection, The Controversy. He lives in Princeton, NJ.