Title: The story that the sonnets tell
First published: 1994
Description: "Ever since the book of 154 beautiful poems curiously titled Shakespeares Sonnets was published in 1609 scholars, poets and devoted readers have maintained that they represent Shakespeare's autobiographical testimony, his 'poetic diary' his 'confessional', which tells us about his life, his loves and friendships. Many of the sonnets are, indeed, 'verse-letters' that were written to his dear friend and patron." "Strange then, that all the combined research of Shakespearean scholars has failed to find evidence of any event, person or circumstance in the life of William Shakespeare that relates to the autobiographical story that the Sonnets tell us clearly and often very movingly." "More than twenty sonnet-sequences were written between 1591 and 1598, most of them published in several editions. Only Shakespeares Sonnets were published long after the sonneteering vogue was over in one cryptic edition dedicated to an enigmatic 'Mr. W.H.', with a concluding group addressed to an equally enigmatic 'Dark Lady'." "The Author of The Story That the Sonnets Tell sets out from the premise that no one would have gone to the trouble of publishing a book of autobiographical poems with a heavily cryptic dedication to a mysterious 'Mr W. H.' unless there were something very important to hide!" "Determined to discover the hidden truth she has broken with the longstanding taboo of academic authority concerning Shakespearean research into anything controversial, and has conducted her meticulous investigation independently over a period of thirty years to make the startling discoveries now finally published."--BOOK JACKET.
Subjects: Autobiography in literature, Biography, Dramatists, English, English Dramatists, English Sonnets, History and criticism, Self in literature, Sonnets, English
People: William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Time periods: Early modern, 1500-1700
LC classification: PR2848 .W73 1994