Sonnets | Narrative

Shakespeare's sonnets do not describe or enact a clear sequence of events, nor do they follow a straightforwardly logical or chronological order. They allude to only a few specific actions, and even these are presented in general rather than particular terms. The setting too is generalized, with no reference to any specific locale. There is a sense of time elapsing as the sonnets portray developments in the speaker's relationships with the young man and the woman, but there is only one suggestion about how long either of these associations lasted.

In Sonnets 1-17—the most...

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