Honneyman, David

Shakespeare's Sonnets and the Court of Navarre

1997 0-7734-8532-5
This book may well mark a breakthrough in solving the mysteries of Shakespeare's Sonnets. It is a literary detective story which suggests that the lost frame of reference for the Sonnets is to be found in France. The Dark Lady, it appears, was French and the sonnet story took place not in Shakespeare's England but at the Court of Navarre. Moreover, the lady was not Shakespeare's mistress, for he was not the original sonnet poet but an adapter, who turned French sonnets into English. This thesis points to solutions for many problems, including Shakespearean riddles involving the personae of Love's Labours Lost, 'A Lover's Complaint' and even provides convincing identities for Shakespeare's Phoenix and Turtle. The texts of the Sonnets and of Shakespeare's two other 'Navarre' poems are provided together with commentaries and notes. The order of the Sonnets does not require to be altered for this interpretation, however, the text is modernized and includes several new emendations as well as those commonly accepted in modern editions.