How did sonnet 29 by shakesphere illistrate the rising tide of reenaissance humanism?

Answer 1

The Renaissance

What a time in which to live! This is a world of creative thought, absolute power, court pageantry, Shakespearean drama, and of the best poetry in the English language. During this time emphasis shifted from the religious life to the secular life. Pageantry connected with the Church was replaced by pageantry of the court and of the theater. Drama moved from the Church to the theater, and it rose to greatness that it has never again achieved.

Lyrics and sonnets dominated Renaissance writing. Lyrics and sonnets replaced narrative writing of the Middle Ages. Francis Bacon brought the essay into popularity. William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and Ben Jonson led in Renaissance drama. John Milton produced Paradise Lost, probably the greatest epic poem in literature. Renaissance people renewed their interest in classical learning and writings of ancient Greece and Rome and developed a curiosity about themselves and the world they lived in so that there was a renewal of human spirit, a creation of beautiful things in both art and literature.


Sonnet 29--This Shakespearean sonnet is powerful in its description of the state of man for at least part of his life. The speaker feels that he is a failure. He can see how people feel about him by looking into their eyes, and he is ashamed of what he perceives that they thing. He feels that even God won't listen to him and that this avenue of redemption has been cut off for him. He envies the gifts, looks, and intelligence of other people. He would trade places with anyone else in the world. But then he realizes that if he were really to do that, he would no longer have his love, and that she is more important to him than anyone else. When he realizes this, he also realizes that he would not change places even with a king.

Taken from:
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