Who were Shakespeare's sonnets dedicated to?

Answer 1

A and I quote "Mr. W. H."

However, there may have been no formal dedication of the Sonnets. The language of the relevant foreword in their first publication is ambiguous. For more on this topic and theories as to the identity of the foreword's addressee, read Who Was Mr WH? at the link below.

Answer 2

The sonnets do not have a dedication in the ordinary sense. At the beginning of the original Sonnets Quarto publication of 1609, we find the following: "TO THE ONLIE BEGETTER OF THESE INSUING SONNETS Mr W H ALL HAPPINESSE AND THAT ETERNITIE PROMISED BY OUR EVER-LIVING POET WISHETH THE WELL-WISHING ADVENTURER IN SETTING FORTH. T.T." The capitals are in the original. The initials "T.T." are generally agreed to belong to the publisher, Thomas Thorpe. Part of the puzzle is why the publisher, and not the author, should write this preface. And the greatest puzzle is "Who was 'Mr. WH?'"

There have been many theories as to the identity of Mr WH. Some have treated this as an ordinary dedication to an aristocratic patron such as William Herbert or Henry Wriothesley. But the address "Mr. WH" is inappropriate for titled men. (An aristocrat was never publicly addressed as plain "Mister"; and Thorpe knew the ropes, as demonstrated by his addresses elsewhere to the aristocracy).

Other theories imagine the "onlie begetter" to be the inspiration of the sonnets, except that there appears to be more than one person who was an inspiriation for them (The "Fair Youth" and "Dark Lady")

Again, the phrase "onlie begetter" suggests the author of the sonnets, and that this preface is addressed from publisher to author. The fact that the initials are not "WS" has led to two schools of thought: either that Shakespeare was not the true author of the poems and that "WH" was, or that the printer made a typographical error and printed "WH" when he intended to put "WS"

Finally, some have theorized that the "onlie begetter" is the person who procured the sonnets for what was an unauthorized publication. Among theories along these lines is a theory that WH is William Hall, an associate of Thorpe's (These people would read the space between "Mr. W.H." and the subsequent word "all" as a printing error, so that what was intended was "To the onlie begetter of these insuing sonnets Mr. W.Hall, happiness . . .") Also, there is William Hervey, subsequently Baron Hervey of Kidbrooke, stepfather of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton, a strong contender as the "fair youth" of the Sonnets and dedicatee of Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis, who may had passed copies of the poems directly or indirectly to Hervey. (read the arguments for identifying Hervey as Mr. WH at the link below).