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.