Shakespeare's sonnets do not exactly follow the sonnet form established by the Italian poet Petrarch. According to Robert Matz, "Shakespeare transforms the sonnet convention".Matz, Robert. The World of Shakespeare's Sonnets: An Introduction. Jefferson, NC: McFarland &, 2008. Print, pg. 77. Shakespeare brings in topics and themes that were unusual at the time. Shakespeare's audience would have interpreted such an aggressive tone as entirely improper encouragement of procreation.Herman, Peter C. "What's the Use? Or, the Problematic of Economy in Shakespeare's Procreation Sonnets". Shakespeare's Sonnets: Critical Essays. Ed. James Schiffer. New York: Garland, 1999. Print, pg. 263-279 In fact, the other sonnets of the time revered chastity. However, Shakespeare "does not engage in stock exaltation of the chastity of the beloved, but instead accuses the young man of gluttonous self-consumption in his refusal to produce a 'tender heir' who would continue his beauty beyond the inexorable decay of aging".Schoenfeldt, Michael. "The Sonnets". The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare's Poetry. Ed. Patrick Cheney. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007. Print, pg. 125-143. Sonnets are often about romantic love between the speaker and the beloved but Shakespeare does not do this. Instead, Shakespeare urges the young man to have sex and procreate with a woman in marriage.Matz, Robert. The World of Shakespeare's Sonnets: An Introduction. Jefferson, NC: McFarland &, 2008. Print, pg. 78.
