Editing Shakespeare's sonnets (section)

==Context==
Shakespeare's sonnets are considered a continuation of the sonnet tradition that swept through the Renaissance from [[Petrarch]] in 14th-century Italy and was finally introduced in 16th-century England by [[Thomas Wyatt (poet)|Thomas Wyatt]] and was given its rhyming metre and division into [[quatrain]]s by [[Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey|Henry Howard]]. With few exceptions, Shakespeare's sonnets observe the stylistic form of the English sonnet—the [[rhyme scheme]], the 14 lines, and the [[Metre (poetry)|metre]]. But, Shakespeare's sonnets introduce significant departures of content.<ref name="duncan-jones">{{cite book |last=Shakespeare |first=William |editor-last=Duncan-Jones |editor-first=Katherine |title=Shakespeare's Sonnets |publisher=Bloomsbury Arden |date=2010 |isbn=978-1408017975}}</ref>

Instead of expressing worshipful love for an almost goddess-like yet unobtainable female love-object, as Petrarch, [[Dante]], and [[Philip Sidney]] had done, Shakespeare introduces a young man. He also introduces the [[Dark Lady (Shakespeare)|Dark Lady]]. Shakespeare explores themes such as lust, homoeroticism, misogyny, infidelity, and acrimony.<ref name="duncan-jones" />