In Our Time: Shakespeare’s Sonnets

BBC Radio 4, Host: Melvyn Bragg
Date: January 1, 2026

Main Theme and Purpose

This episode delves into the compelling world of Shakespeare’s sonnets: their form, history, themes, context, reception, and ongoing influence. Melvyn Bragg is joined by poet and Professor Don Paterson, Early Modern literature expert Dr. Hannah Crawforth, and Professor Emma Smith, to explore what makes these poems so distinct within the Shakespearean canon and in literary history at large. The conversation moves from the sonnets' enigmatic publication and organization, through their formal and emotive brilliance, to lingering questions of biography and interpretation.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Place and Context of the Sonnets

• Chronology and Publication (04:26–06:19)

  • The sonnets were officially published in 1609, probably assembled then, but many were written over a much longer period, with circulation among private friends as early as the late 1590s.
  • Shakespeare’s “sugared sonnets” were already known before publication, indicating longstanding composition.
  • The publication might connect to a lull in theatre (plague closures) or to shifts in culture and sexuality at the Jacobean court (06:30–07:11).

• Transition from Elizabethan to Jacobean Era (07:11–08:13)

  • The transition from Elizabeth I (the idealized unattainable woman in many sonnet traditions) to James I (with his different, homo-social court atmosphere) possibly urged Shakespeare to adapt both audience and tone.

2. The Sonnet Form: Structure and Poetic Advantage

• Poetic Mechanics (09:04–11:31)

  • Don Paterson explains the sonnet’s enduring appeal: "It's a great way of figuring out a solution to things. Most sonnets have this weird kind of natural turn about 2/3 of the way through...where humans generally tend to get bored and need something to happen. So it's a form that's very fitted to a very common shape of human thought." (09:10)
  • He highlights the intrinsic ‘turn’ (the volta) and compares the structure to a 12-bar blues: introduction, development, tension, and resolution.

• Shakespeare’s Subversion (12:35–14:19)

  • While not overly experimental compared to contemporaries, Shakespeare expanded thematic scope and pressed the language to its limits:
  • “The compression of the sonnet then is a kind of pressure cooker ... words...suddenly they're bonding in all sorts of different ways. ...every word's talking to every other word. It's got harmony as well as melody...” (13:46, Don Paterson)

3. Themes, Characters, and Narrative within the Sequence

• Who Are the Sonnets For? (15:32–17:51)

  • There’s debate about structuring and whether the sequence as printed reflects Shakespeare’s intent or later editorial arrangement.
  • Early sonnets predominantly addressed to a young man, later ones (from 127 onwards) to the "Dark Lady".

• The Dark Lady: Character and Problems (18:00–20:58)

  • Emma Smith: The urge to identify a historical 'Dark Lady' might reflect a desire to read the sonnets heterosexually (18:00).
  • Don Paterson: “I think Wordsworth hated him, incidentally. He found him harsh and obscure and worthless...the read is rather misogynistic...it goes on for far too long...I find it quite bizarre.” (19:00–19:26)
  • Discussion about possible racist and misogynistic undertones, and the unsettling nature of language around darkness (19:57–22:06).

4. Structure, Development, and Notable Sonnets

• The “Procreation Sonnets” (24:00–26:44)

  • The opening sequence is viewed either as poetic apprenticeship or as material commissioned for a real-life patron.
  • Don Paterson: “It's very hard to know what to make of them...it's the same poem over and over...after sonnet 18...he changes in midcourse and he goes, no, I'm going to declare my own interest here. It's me, it's my poetry that's going to guarantee your immortality, my love, not your future children. Which is a kind of heart stopping moment.” (24:00–25:49)

• On Sonnet 18 (“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day…”) (26:46–28:20)

  • Hannah Crawforth: Hidden edge beneath surface romanticism, includes threats to beauty and power dynamics between poet and beloved (26:46).

• Economy and Density of Language (28:20–30:40)

  • Emma Smith: “Helen Wendler...calls these the keywords...the use of the same or a related form of the word, but in different senses, particularly often changing in the couplet. For example, there are some sonnets that pun a lot on the word will.” (28:34)
  • Shows Shakespeare’s unmatched verbal economy.

5. Interpretation, Performance, and Misreading

• Context and Weddings (30:40–33:51)

  • Don Paterson challenges the popular use of Sonnet 116 at weddings:
    “This isn't a union of the flesh. This is minds. And secondly, and more to the point, of two men...it's a killer poem...when we read this at weddings, we tend to forget that wandering in the context of the sonnets...has connotations of infidelity…” (30:47–32:49)
  • The sonnets’ musicality can lead to superficial readings.

• On Sonnet 129 (“The expense of spirit in a waste of shame…”) (33:51–36:50)

  • Hannah Crawforth and Don Paterson highlight its visceral portrayal of lust and brutality, undermining any simple romantic reading.
  • “...it doesn't make you feel warmer towards its author in any way whatsoever.” (36:13)

6. Autobiography—How Much of Shakespeare is in the Sonnets?

• Intimacy vs. Drama (37:05–39:39)
  • Don Paterson: “We're aware of Shakespeare as a man here, a very odd man to be sure, but someone recognizably human in all these sweaty, agonized, jealous and sexually tormented state.” (37:05)
  • Emma Smith: The sonnet tradition thrives on “hide and seek” with biography—pleasure is partly in spotting such personal hints (38:32).

7. Reception and Influence

• Early Reception and Reprints (39:39–43:22)

  • Emma Smith: Striking that the sonnets weren’t popular on release and only reached a wider appreciative audience in the 20th century as tastes changed, aided by the rise of confessional poetry (39:51).
  • Hannah Crawforth: Shakespeare was a blockbuster poet in his day, so the tepid response to the sonnets is puzzling (42:27).

• Changing Tastes and Enduring Value (43:22–46:17)

  • Don Paterson: “Everybody sees themselves in Shakespeare...he's a writer capacious enough for everyone else to see themselves in him somewhere.” (43:53)
  • Coleridge’s and Ted Hughes’ favorites among the sonnets vary wildly—testament to the poems’ breadth and changeable reception.

• Modern Influence (46:28–47:41)

  • Hannah Crawforth: The sonnet form licensed innovation right up to today—e.g. Terrance Hayes’s response to contemporary events via modified sonnets.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Sonnet Structure
  “If we didn't have this sonnet, it likely appeared in something much like its traditional form by tea time...it's a great way of figuring out a solution to things.”
  — Don Paterson (09:10)

• Sonnets and Biography
  “We're aware of Shakespeare as a man here, a very odd man to be sure, but, you know, someone recognizably human in all these sweaty, agonized, jealous and sexually tormented state...”
  — Don Paterson (37:05)

• On Sonnet 18's Shift
  “He changes in midcourse and he goes, no, I'm going to declare my own interest here. It's me, it's my poetry that's going to guarantee your immortality, my love, not your future children. Which is a kind of heart stopping moment.”
  — Don Paterson (25:49)

• On the ‘Dark Lady’ Poems
  “I think Wordsworth hated him, incidentally. He found him harsh and obscure and worthless, I recall. But reading them now is kind of difficult. I mean, the read is rather misogynistic...I find it quite bizarre.”
  — Don Paterson (19:00)

• On Reading for Surface vs. Depth
  “The trouble is there's so much seductive, intrinsic music to this poetry, you could almost be forgiven for not thinking too hard about what he's saying.”
  — Don Paterson (32:59)

• On Tastes and Selectivity
  “Coleridge...awarded the marks out of four and only eight sonnets get top marks. But his choices are absolutely bizarre.”
  — Don Paterson (43:53)

Bonus Material & Further Insights

From “Extra Time” segment (47:57–57:12)

Queer Reception and Literary Afterlife

• Emma Smith notes Shakespeare's sonnets' centrality to gay and queer literary history—Oscar Wilde famously defended his love letters in court by comparing them to Shakespeare’s sonnets (48:01).

Biographical “Soap Opera” in the Sonnets

• Don Paterson points to Sonnet 86 as biographical intrigue, suggesting rivalry and jealousy surround poets like Chapman and Marlowe (49:20).

Quotidian Surprises

• Hannah draws attention to Sonnet 143 for its tender domestic imagery (“a careful housewife runs to catch one of her feathered creatures...”)—unusual in the sonnet tradition (51:24).

Form and Anomalies

• Discussion on sonnets with unusual structure (Sonnet 99: 15 lines; Sonnet 145: tetrameter); speculation on authorial intent vs. editorial accident (52:52–53:38).

Critical Obsession and Madness

• Emma Smith shares: “Stephen Booth says...the sonnets sort of drive most people mad...[they] pull us into...contagious...rabbit holes of interpretation” (54:29).

Important Timestamps by Topic

• Introduction & Context: 04:26–08:13
• The Sonnet Form & Shakespeare’s Craft: 09:04–14:19
• The Sequence & the ‘Young Man’ / ‘Dark Lady’: 15:32–22:06
• Interpretation of Key Sonnets: 24:00–36:50
• Autobiography & Reception: 37:05–47:41
• Bonus Material / Queer Reception: 47:57–56:48

Overall Tone & Approach

The tenor is collegial, intellectually playful, and reflective, with a passion for textual discovery and a respect for ambiguity and complexity. The episode moves between rigorous academic analysis, poetic appreciation, and wry personal insights—mirroring the capacious and ever-renewing energy of Shakespeare’s own poetic voice.

This episode serves as an illuminating guide to Shakespeare’s sonnets for the engaged listener or newcomer alike, clarifying both their formal beauty and their unsolvable mysteries.