Shakespeare's Sonnets and the Bible

Studienarbeit aus dem Jahr 2012 im Fachbereich Anglistik - Literatur, Note: 2,0, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität Greifswald (Anglistik), Veranstaltung: Shakespeare's Sonnets, Sprache: Deutsch, Abstract: The topic of Shakespeare and Religion is not a new one, but it has ¿come to the foreground¿ due to the ¿recent ¿turn to religion¿ in historical and literary scholarship¿ (Jackson/Marotti 1). Thus, it is has been tried ¿to make sense of the dramatist¿s awareness of, relation to, and use of religious beliefs, religious culture¿ (Jackson/Marotti 1). In this term paper, I want to focus on biblical references and allusions in the Sonnets. In order to do that, I will at first take a look into the matter of religion in Shakespeare's time. I will also examine his personal religious beliefs. After that, will look into religious allusion in Shakespeare's writing, i.e. firstly his plays and secondly his poetry. As I want to focus on the Sonnets, a closer look will be provided on three selected ones. These analyses will focus on the biblical references and allusions they contain. Therefor, a detailed analysis in terms of literary devices will not be given. Moreover, I will not describe the characteristics of the Sonnet from.