Structural and thematic analysis of Shakespeare’s sonnets 153 and 154 with their Turkish translations

The purpose of this study is to analyze the structural features of sonnets 153 and 154 of Shakespeare based on the source texts in order to find out to what extent these two sonnets relate to or differ from the other 152 sonnets by Shakespeare as well as analyze six Turkish translations of these two sonnets by different translators to find how consistently the target texts relate to or differ from mainstream Shakespearean sonnet opinion as compared to the situation with source texts in terms of structure and theme. These two sonnets are ascribed to Shakespeare; however, there is ongoing debate on whether the origin of these two sonnets can really be attributed to Shakespeare. Structural analysis of the source texts showed that these two 14-line sonnets were written in a rhyme schema that is in accordance with mainstream Shakespearean sonnet rhyme schema, which keeps these sonnets away from doubts regarding their origin from Shakespeare. In three target texts of sonnet 153, the rhyme schema of Shakespeare was preserved while no rhyme schema was adopted in the other three target texts, in which there is no rhyme system for any of the sonnets, therefore the target texts also kept the doubts regarding the origin of this sonnet away. With respect to the sonnet 154, another 14-line sonnet, the rhyming structure of this sonnet also complied with other sonnets by Shakespeare. Two target texts also showed the same tendency, thereby providing a smooth reading of the sonnet without raising any doubts about its origin. However, TT1, TT3, TT5 and TT6 were not in line with the general rhyme schema of sonnet by Shakespeare. Structurally, the readings of sonnets 153 and 154 did not raise any doubts regarding their origin either in the source text or the target texts. Thematic analysis of both sonnets not only in the source texts but also in the target texts showed that these two sonnets do not relate to the rest 152 sonnets by Shakespeare thematically, and that these two sonnets are very much alike theme-wise. Regarding the thematic flow of quatrains and couplet in Shakespearean sonnets, the couplet in source text of sonnet 153 was in stark contrast with generally admitted Shakespearean sonnet thematic flows while there was no deviation from mainstream flow in the source text of sonnet 154. However, the target texts of sonnet 154 do not preserve this normality in thematic flow in quatrains and couplets, which could raise doubts in the target text readers about the origin of this sonnet