Nothing certain between 1585-1592. 1592: plague’s years Early sonnets Why?
Renaissance? Literature was a search for meaning rather than the ideal expression of meaning - as it used to be… Writers explored the winds of chaos and uncertainty.
Petrarch’s sonnetsinfluenced writers as Sidney and Spenser, who celebrated the order of Elizabethan society They tended to idealisation. Shakespeare and Donne’s sonnets showed uncertainty, ambiguity…
1611 King James’ Bible: with biblical idioms had an extensive influence on literature and contributed to increase literancy