Final answer:
In Sonnet 20, Death gives the speaker his death wound. The speaker questions the fairness of Death choosing to kill him again when he is already dead.
Step-by-step explanation:
In Sonnet 20, the speaker's death wound is given by the grim reaper, personified as Death. The speaker is questioning the fairness of Death choosing to kill him again when he is already dead. The references to the son and mother being slain suggest that Death has taken away loved ones from the speaker.
In Sonnet 20 and various texts from Shakespearean plays, the notion of a 'death wound' is metaphorical, symbolizing the emotional, psychological, or physical harm leading to a character's downfall or literal death. For example, in Macbeth, Lady Macbeth contemplates the murder of Duncan, which stems from ambition and acts as the 'death wound' to their innocence and ultimately their lives. In other texts, such as the printed excerpts, death is often wrought by human actions, sometimes leading to self-inflicted harm as a result of grief or desperation, like Jocasta's death in Oedipus Rex after the death of her son.
In Shakespearean texts, 'death wounds' are often the result of actions driven by a character's psychological state, ambition, or a response to grief, and can lead to physical demise.