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I agree, in the absence of independent evidence, it can't
be established decisively one way or the other whether all, some
or none of the sonnets are autobiographical. There's as
little independent evidence for your assertion as mine.I can only say that the internal evidence convinces me. First,
because Sh never sought to publish the sonnets, despite their
evident literary greatness (and evident to him, too); second,
because they're of an extremely personal nature, many of them,
including homosexual love between the poet and a much younger
man (and then later a much younger woman); third, because many
clearly refer to events well known to poet and recipient but not
to us, eg Nos. 34 and 35 ("No more be griev'd at that which thou
hast done," etc.,fourth, because of the raw intensity of emotion,
especially Nos. 146-152. Finally, if we don't situate these
poems in Sh's life, how do we read, say, # 107 at all?I know the argument that Sh is after all a master at
creating convincing fictional characters, but that doesn't
mean the sonnets are fictional. At some point, the literature
must be allowed to speak for itself, and the "I" voice is
persuasively personal (at least for me). If it isn't for you,
well, there are some people who don't like Sh at all, and how
do we "prove" to them the contrary judgment?Even if we had a letter from Sh saying "the sonnets are my life,"
would you accept it? Many wouldn't, citing Lawrence's "trust
the tale not the teller." It happens in literary studies all
the time.But consider that the sonnets were written over several years,
surely that's agreed, and we can follow a clear narrative implied
by the see-sawing emotions and events. If Sh created them as a
fiction, why didn't he publish them? Why just one or two
(138 and 144)in The Passionate Pilgrim? Why did they have to
first appear in a pirated edition full of typoes? Why was a
second edition not published for another century?To claim their autobiographicality is an act of critical
interpretation,just as any reading. So I've offered you my
reasons. What are yours?Posted by Professor Mike on April 10, 1997 at 14:12:34
In Reply to "The internal evidence of Black Beauty reveals it's autobiographical nature" posted by Reality Chuck on April 10, 1997 at 05:47:42
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