Assalamualaikum and welcome back again to English
poetry at the Islamic University of Gaza,
Palestine. We are still talking about the sonnet.
We'll be talking about the sonnet in every major
poetry movement. Last time we discussed Shall I
Compare Thee to A Summer's Day, Sonnet 18. We
discussed the form, the content, the theme, the
features, and many other things. Today we'll
basically examine sonnet number 130 or as
sometimes it's known as my mistress eyes. But
before I go back, I go to this sonnet, I'll go
back again to sonnet 18 and examine issues or
repeat issues you mentioned and I mentioned last
time, so we highlight them. Remember we said
Shakespeare's sonnets are three quatrains and one
couplet. Sometimes in a sonnet we have three
quatrains developing the same thing, the same
image in other words, in different ways, and then
we have the turn or the volta or the twist at the
very end. However, some sonnets actually do
quatrain one and quatrain two highlight the issue
or the crisis or the complication, and then the
third quadrant twists the argument like we have
here, and shall I compare thee to a summer's day,
because this third stands at the quadrant, but thy
eternal. So everything dies, everything declines.
but thy eternal beauty does not, not because of
something special in you, not because you're
different, because I make you different, because
Shakespeare's poetry makes you different. Reading
this text, we could stop at different things, like
the word temperate. Now, dictionary gives you two
pronunciations, temperate, two syllables, or
temperate, three syllables. And because this
rhymes with date, the long A, trefthong, A, it
doesn't work 100% the rhyme scheme. There's a
bunch of possibilities here. Number one, maybe
during the time of Shakespeare, it was pronounced
temperate. That's one. Or number two, some people
say, for a poetic license, just to make it more
musical, go for temperate. Something I don't like.
Now if this remains temperate, it means this is an
imperfect rhyme. And still, if you go for two
syllables temperate, it makes nine syllables.
Again, creating double trouble here. And in my
opinion, this is always with Shakespeare, this is
always connected with the meaning. So he's saying,
they were more lovely and more temperate, but the
line in which he claims and states that she is
more temperate, she's perfect, It's imperfect in
two things. And the perfection can only be
achieved if she loves him back. Assuming that this
is addressed to a woman because many people take
it for granted as Shakespeare's 126 sonnets are
for a man. I don't care about this. I read this as
a love poem. Okay, so this is number one Number
two, I always like to stop at the and the at the
end The two these we have here The object
pronounced for the addressee The beloved, sort of
When we did the meter, we said shall I compare the
And this is unstressed syllable, weak syllable
Insignificant compared to the stressed syllable
However, when you go this, when you go here, so
long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Started, unstressed, weak, insignificant,
unimportant, short, and ended, because when you
say a stressed syllable, it's a syllable that is
strong, that is long basically. It's given more
emphasis in the way we speak, and this is the
nature of the English language. And always in an
English poem, in poetry in general, even in Arabic
poetry, the poem begins somewhere and it ends
somewhere else because this is basically where the
poet is taking us. You begin this way and then you
end different, a little bit different, or
sometimes dramatically different. I think there's
a connection here between the woman, the addressee
being unstressed, insignificant, and ending The
stressed syllable being more important, more
emphasized. Could be possibly it's just poetic,
yeah? Could be just there for no reason. I feel
that this is what I like to do with poetry, like
try to connect these tiny little things in the
form, in the rhyme scheme, in the sounds to the
meaning. So what happened here? What changed? Why
has the unstressed initially became stressed at
the end. What changed in the poem? What do we have
in the ending of the poem that we didn't have in
the opening? Please.
Why isn't
she important?
Why wasn't she important in the opening?
Okay, so Shakespeare gives her the importance
here. Is there any condition, any tax, anything?
It was just for free. What happens here? Please. I
don't know about the beginning, but in the end, I
think he's speaking like he's sure that he will
give her life forever. He will make her live
forever. There's confidence here, the way
Shakespeare speaks. He is confident, definitely.
And so is he in the opening. He is also confident.
I think that the confidence of the poet does not
change. Something else changes. Please. At first,
she wasn't with him. But in the end, he's asking
her to be with him. And this, I think, will make
her more powerful and more Okay, eternal. I think
this is in many ways true. Here he's still, he's
trying to convince her to win her heart. She is
not with him. And again, even like I was reading
something the other night about the
misunderstanding people usually have when they say
this poem was written for a man. It doesn't
necessarily mean Shakespeare wrote it for a man.
It could be The fact that he wrote it for a man to
send for a woman. Still, you know, the addressee
is basically a woman. Because again, when you had
a patron at that time, the patron will give you
protection, political, social protection, and you
know, and also sometimes will give you money.
Why? Just to write poems. Please write me a poem
here, write me a poem there, I want a poem here, I
want to send a poem to this or that. So even if
you take it for granted that the first 126 sonnets
were written for a man, possible, that some of
them were written for a man to be sent to a woman.
Okay, the other thing is, again, this but. The
twist here, the volta, it's called. Sometimes we
have it, usually we have it here, but sometimes we
have it in a couplet. So the sonnet here goes for
eight lines saying that everything dies, every
fear from fearsome time declines. Beauty is
transient. It doesn't last forever. Everybody
dies. Even the most beautiful time of the year is
short. It's too hot. Sometimes nature is cruel,
destructive. But there is hope. There is a way out
of this. And I also like to comment on the use of
when. It could have been, by the way, by chance or
nature's changing course on trend, when in eternal
lines to time thou grossed, thy eternal something
something. But Shakespeare delays this, the
condition, which is beautiful. from an
argumentative point of view. The logic of the poem
is really beautiful. It's again deliberately
calculated.
So the but here creates a twist. When you are
about to lose hope, if everybody is going to die,
if every beautiful thing just declines, what the
hell are we doing here? There's a way. I can make
you eternal. I can make you immortal. You can
live, not only live in my poetry, you can also
grow. Like now, everybody, we're here in Gaza,
we're talking about this Shakespearean sonnet
about the addressee. The when could have been an
F. And when is more, this is confidence again.
More certain, there's certainty here. And again
answering the question whether Shakespeare knew
that he was great, he was writing great poetry,
that he was destined for greatness. Definitely he
had a feeling that he would be a cool guy in the
future to be loved by every single student around
the world. Okay, the other thing before I go to
the meter, the other thing is the fact that
Shakespeare personifies death. Again, there's this
thing about Shakespeare being obsessed with death
You'll find it everywhere in his works, in his
plays And
many people try to connect between Shakespeare and
Hamlet and examine how death, the undiscovered
land from whose burn no traveller returns
Now clearly Shakespeare, I don't want to say
clearly, some people believe that Shakespeare felt
bad and sorry and angry and frustrated because
he's going to die. And I think many great people
do feel the same. Why should I die? Why do bad
people live forever and I, the good guy with a
good heart and good potency and good everything,
going to die? So there's always this battle
between Shakespeare and death. And if the
battleground is in the sonnets, Shakespeare comes
out the winner. So the personification of death
here brings death down. Brings death down to us as
a human being. Undermining the might of death. The
strength of death. Saying death is another human
being that even can't brag. Even bragging
Why? Simply because in eternal lines to time thou
grossed. The last point before I saw some of you
raise their hands. Remember this is a thought,
this is an iamb. Unstressed, unstressed. Almost
the whole poem follows this iambic pentameter.
Except maybe here, and here, and here, and here.
Creating something called in poetry, a spondee.
Spondee. Look at how tough the word is. Spondee.
Because a spondee is a foot with two stressed
syllables.
Rough winds do shake. Lives this, gives life.
And again, we said something about the meter last
time. We could differ or disagree and it would be
okay, fine. I remember, what's her name, your
friend here? She said, Rahaf, is it Rahaf? Yeah,
Rahaf said something about lives being unstressed
and this being stressed. Yeah, I can take that. I
can understand this. Some people might say no
lives this both are stressed that is possible So
there could be some disagreement, but you need to
change the way you read the poem So if you say
shall I compare thee to a summer's day? That's
shall I shall I unstressed unstressed? But usually
people would say shall I compare thee to a
summer's day giving emphasis for the pronoun I
Basically rough winds Do shake a spondee Again,
without even explaining this, when you say both
syllables are stressed, it gives more emphasis,
makes it tough, gives it a higher voice, rough
winds. But if you, in your answers, in your exams,
if you just say the spondy here is for emphasis,
to emphasize something, that's not The perfect
answer, because everything is there for emphasis.
What does he emphasize? So you need to see what
the poet is saying. He's saying that winds,
storms, nature destroys beauty. And to say this,
number one, I commented on the rough winds, rough
winds, the sound that rough creates, the sound
like a storm. And this term is not only with a F,
it's also destructive, it destroys. So rough winds
here, there is an emphasis on the fact that nature
is destructive. That nature destroys beauty.
The same with do shake. Some might say, no, I
don't want to stress do. Okay, it's an I am. So
rough winds do shake or rough winds do shake, do
shake or do shake. The same thing happens in the
end. Lives this. I like again Rahaf's suggestion
that lives might not be stressed, but this might,
giving more emphasis to this Shakespeare's poetry
over life, because yes, Shakespeare's life, poetry
outlives life. He died, she died, everybody died,
but he still lives forever and ever. Not only
living, but also growing. Okay, anything you want
to say about Sonnet 18, please. Yeah. It was about
when you mentioned who Shakespeare wrote the song
for. The thing that always confuses me is why do
they always consider that the speaker is
Shakespeare himself? Yeah, you're right. It could
be a woman speaking to a man. You're right.
You're completely right. The persona is not
necessarily the poet. The persona could be a
fictional person and this is true here, true in
fiction and short stories and in novels.
I think at that time it was taken for granted that
the speaker is basically a man. Because it was
taken for granted that only men could write poetry
at that time. But yeah, good point. Thank you very
much. beautiful overall, but I took it from a
feminist perspective. First one, he said, shall I
convert thee? So he's politely suggesting or
taking her permission. And then in line 12, when
he says in eternal lines, after he owns her and he
gets what he wants, he's, when eternalized to the
time that grows, he's saying that he's like giving
her a favor, that he's eternalizing her in his
poetry. But I think that she doesn't need him.
It's not like he's dealing with a woman that's
like his proper priority. I'm not sure, okay. And
that he owns her. Okay, you are mine. I had a
chance. Either I want to internalize you or I
don't. So it's not that he likes the woman as a
woman. He likes her because he can control her. He
can use her to show how good he is. Yeah, yeah,
yeah, there's this. But again, also, I don't want
to assume that he won her heart here. This is all
still an assumption. Because where is the woman?
Thank you for raising this point. Where is the
woman in the text? She's not there. She's not
responding to him. She's not saying, okay, maybe
she said, okay, I'll think about it. Give me just
three, four, 10 years. I don't think there is any
indication in the poem that she's saying okay,
okay, okay. So yeah, you can read this as a
feminist and say that this is not good, this is
anti-feminist. Okay, we have something, a parody,
Noha.
Please write parodies. Parodies are fun. Let's see
how things go. You asked where is the woman in
Shakespeare's sonnet and here I am going to talk
to you about the woman. So here I wrote it from a
feminist point of view. I didn't really like the
fact that Shakespeare is trying, is boasting,
let's not say Shakespeare, the persona is like
keeps boasting about how he's going to immortalize
her in his poetry, I don't really like this, and
also how he only loves her because she's fair. Can
you speak up? Okay, okay, so basically here I'm a
strong independent woman. Shall I compare thee to
a boasting bear, though art more desperate and
more voracious? Bold men describe a lady as fair,
and imprison her in lines as if gracious.
Sometimes too reckless, the evolved ape behaves,
and often is his mind detached from the brain. And
every fair confronting fair sometimes caves by
chance or an human that is sane. But thy eternal
vanity shall not be destroyed except by the morals
a fair lady owest, nor shall thou braggart's soul
be void unless it more dominance showest. So long
as women can breathe or eyes can see, so long
lives I, and I gives life to thee. Okay, nice.
Thank you very much. That's a really, really good
parody.
Okay, let's move very quickly to this poem. Just
again, Shakespeare making the same point in
different ways, and this is interesting about
Shakespeare. Since brass nor stone nor earth nor
bound this sea, but sad mortality being an issue
that Shakespeare struggles with, oversways their
power, et cetera. The point I want to make in this
sonnet is just a couplet. Look at the couplet here
at the end. It's similar to Sonnet 18. So long as
men can breathe, our eyes can see, so long lives
this and this gives life to thee. Here he says, oh
none, nothing is going to live forever unless
going for the condition, you will live if, when,
unless this miracle have might that in black ink,
what's black ink? My poetry, this, my eternal
lines. That in black ink my love may still shine
bright. You could, I'm not sure if you're
interested in doing research on poetry. You could
do research on Shakespeare's couplets. See how,
what they say. And if they say the same thing,
different ways. Another sonnet I like by
Shakespeare is Sonnet 73, I guess.
Again, we're not going to study it in detail, just
I want to make a couple of points Number one, we
have the quatrain here Quatrain two and quatrain
three and then a couple Look at how each one
begins That time of year thou mayst in me behold
What's mayst? May, that's why some versions of the
sonnet will usually drop the st for thou but they
will keep the thee and thou and that th. In me
behold, what's behold? See, that's a poetic word,
it's a beautiful word. Behold, when yellow leaves
or none of you do hang. I don't know why, but I
have never written a more beautiful line than this
one in the description. When yellow leaves or none
of you do hang, you know in early leaves, what
time of year is this? Autumn. That's autumn. So
he's describing autumn and autumn is the end of
the year. Upon those boughs which shake against
cold. And I like the use of shake, shake, shake,
every time it shakes. That's half his name. Upon
those boughs which shake against the cold. And
look at how It's not cold yet here in Gaza, but
look at this personification, personifying the
boughs, the branches as very old people shaking
because of the cold. Look at this image.
Fascinating. Beautiful. Sad, but beautiful. It's
not people shaking here. It's so cold that even
the branches are Shaking against the cold. With
shake against the cold, bare ruined choirs were
laid, the sweet birds sang. Look at the sad. This
musical here. But it's no longer there, the
singing. Sang. It's in the past. They no longer
sing. And look at the tough beginning here of the
line, like the spondio, just bare ruined choirs
were laid, the sweet Birds sang. So the ending of
the year, autumn, fall. And now the second stanza,
quatrain, goes for, in me again, thou sees the
twilight of such a day. And twilight is? Twilight
is what time of the day is it? Basically? The
ending of the day. The twilight is the ending of
the day. In me thou ceased the twilight of such
day as after sunset fades in the west, which by
and by black night does take away death's second
self. And again, many people criticized
Shakespeare for saying the obvious in in many
unobvious ways. You know, sometimes you make fun
of people who say Mr. Obvious. Shakespeare is Mr.
Unobvious all the time. He just keeps, he doesn't
like shortcuts. What's death's second self? Sleep.
Sleeping, yeah. Why don't you say sleep
Shakespeare? Oh, other people, ordinary people say
sleep. I don't. Death's second self that seals up
all unrest. Look at the beautiful euphemistic
terms here. Rest could be a pun. Let's take a rest
and rest in peace. Rest in peace. So this is the
ending of the day. And then in me again, thou
ceased the glowing of such fire. that on the ashes
of his youth does lie ashes is the ending of of
the fire the ending of the year the ending of the
day the ending of the fire probably here
symbolizing passion and love possible
yeah End of life, possible, yeah, yeah. That on
the ashes of his youth does lie as the deathbed
wherein it must expire, consumed with that which
it was nourished by. How the fire eats itself. And
again, we're all going to die. Everything is going
to die. become the beautiful couplet here. This
thou perceives which makes thy love more strong. I
know grammar was not totally standard, even the
spelling with Shakespeare. You will be surprised
if you see the original sonnet, how it was written
during the time of Shakespeare. You will recognize
some of the words, but not most of them. Like some
of them will be not recognized in the letters. The
spelling was horrible. But don't take this as an
excuse, telling me in the exam that you're writing
like Shakespeare. So this could be stronger,
right? Grammatically now you say, we better say
stronger, not more strong. I love more strong. So
because everybody, everything dies, I think we
should love each other more strong. Love has to be
stronger. And that's again twisting the argument,
turning it upside down. To love that well which
thou must live year long. Year is, what's year? In
Shakespeare? Before.
Before. Basically this is one syllable, this is
two. You'll find words like in, yeah? Even. Even
even two syllables in one syllable or also or Or
instead of over oft instead of often okay Now
let's move to sonnet 130 and we'll study this in
detail Somebody please read
Somebody? Okay. Wondering? Speak up. My mistress
eyes are nothing like the sun. Coral is far more
red than here there's sweat. If snow be white,
wine and milk taste all done. If rays be wires,
Likewise, grow on her head. I have seen roses in
Damascus, red and white, but no such roses see eye
in her cheeks, and in some reviews it is very more
delightful than in the friend that from my
mistress reads. I love to hear her speak, yet what
I know, that music has a far more pleasing sound.
I cried, I never saw a goddess go. My mistress,
when she walks, freaks on the ground. And yet, by
heaven, I think my love is there, as any sheep
lied with foals compared. Okay, nice reading. One
more please. My mistress' eyes are nothing like
the sun. Coral is far more red than her lips' red.
If no bee-wire, then her breasts are done. If
hairs be wires, black wires grow on her hair. I
have seen roses their mouth red and white, but not
such roses see eye in her cheeks. And in some
perfumes is there more delight than in the breath
that from my mistress reads. I love to hear her
speak, yet what I know, that music have a far more
pleasing sound. I never saw a goddess go. My
mistress, when she walks, trees on the ground. And
yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she
believed with false compares. One more, please. My
mistress eyes are nothing like sun. Curl is far
more red than her lips red. If snow be white, why
then hair braids are done? If hairs be wires,
black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses
damasked, red and white, but no such roses see I
in her cheeks.
And in some perfumes
is there more delight than in the bread that from
my mistress reads. I love to hear her speak, yet
well I know that music has a far more pleasing
sound. I grant I never saw a goddess glow. My
mistress, when she walks, treats on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love are here. As
rare? As anything belied with flowers compared
Thank you My mistress' eyes are nothing like the
sun Coral is far more red than her lips red If
snow be white, why then her breasts are done? If
hers be wires, black wires grow on her head I have
seen roses, damasked, red and white, but no such
roses see eye in her cheeks, and in some perfumes
is there more delight than in the breath that from
my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet
will I know that music hath a far more pleasing
sound. I grant I never saw a goddess go. My
mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love is rare, as
any she belied with false compare. I am not sure
how you're reacting or you reacted to this poem,
reading it at home and listening to it on YouTube.
It always comes, even when I teach it almost every
year. And every time I read it, I feel this kind
of shock, unexpected of Shakespeare. This is not a
sonnet we read about, we hear about, the love poem
exalting the beloved, raising hair up above all
natural beauties, all human beauties. To come to
this, what on earth is Shakespeare doing? What's
different this time? What is special about this
sunnah? Let's just talk a little bit here and
highlight certain issues before we discuss. So my
mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun. This
could be the opening like shall I compare thee to
a summer's day. So my mistress' eyes are nothing
like the sun. Her eyes are even more beautiful.
You know? But again, it goes against our
expectation. Coral, you know coral, the Red Sea,
coral is far more red than her lips red. And
grammatically we say than hair Red lips. Some of
you will claim that Shakespeare is doing this for
the rhyme scheme. But again, this is Shakespeare.
He could have said red than hair, red lips. I
don't know. And then he said here something hips,
you know. It would work, it would, fine, and
Shakira will find this funny because hips don't
lie. So the coral here, so there's basically
something with Shakespeare, some kind of changing
the word order of the natural grammar. And again,
this is why some, I hope that after reading these
two sentences, you will come closer to
Shakespeare. I know you're also doing Elizabethan
drama, you come closer to understanding more and
more of Shakespeare. He does this, he plays with
the syntax. Not only again, don't please just say
for emphasis, don't just please say for the rhyme
scheme because Shakespeare can make anything
rhyme. For God's sake, the man coined and made up
like 2000 words. He can do something here. So
coral is far more red than her lips red. Her lips
are not that red, especially compared to coral. If
snow be white, and snow is white, why then her
breasts are done? She isn't as white as snow.
She's not white. And again, whiteness associated
with, classically, with beauty. She's brownish,
seemingly. If hairs, and I find this very funny,
if hairs be wires, if hairs are wires, then black
wires grow on her head. And I don't know how you
would react. I usually test little girls with
this, and I tell her, like, shaarek manfoush, or
shaarek silly jelly, or something like this. And
even little girls wouldn't take this. They would
find this offensive and insulting.
Black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses
damasked, red and white. There are no such roses.
You know, beautiful person, a beautiful woman, you
just liken her cheeks to white roses, pink roses,
red roses. But here he's saying, but no such
roses, CI in her cheeks. And again, I think there
is here a pattern. Shakespeare is creating a
pattern. He's not on like this, you know,
diverting, subverting our expectations. He's also
CI, IC, lips red. Changing the orders of things in
her cheeks. And in some perfumes is there more
delight than in the breath that from my mistress
reeks. This could mean she stinks, but it just
could mean she has a natural human breath. Not
necessarily somebody who has eaten a huge chunk of
an onion. But reeks is also not a compliment. You
stink. But again, I don't want to take reek as
just meaning stink. Although it could be. I love
to hear her speak, yet will I know. And I think
here, will I know is grammatically okay. But the
more natural word order would be, I know well. So
is there a pattern of changing things? That music
has a far more pleasing sound. I grant I never saw
a goddess go. Like beautiful women, you know,
described usually as goddesses, as angels that
don't walk, don't touch the ground. They just
float, they glow, they glide. I never saw a
goddess go. My mistress, when she walks, however,
when she walks, she trails upon the ground. She's
like any other human being. She walks on the
ground. And again, so far, this is interesting.
It's just one unit highlighting
the imperfections, the flaws, so to speak.
Although I don't agree that there should be fixed
standards of beauty or what makes beauty. And then
yet, by heaven, by God, wa rabbi al-sama, he's
swearing here. And again, I said this in another
class, and one student said that Shakespeare was a
religious man. He was, I don't think Shakespeare
was a religious man. I think that Shakespeare was
not only that, but he was deliberately and
consciously distancing himself from religion and
from, I understand that God is one syllable in
heaven too. But you'll be surprised, you will of
course necessarily find influences of the Bible,
of Christianity in Shakespeare, but you will be
amazed at how sometimes you feel that
Shakespeare's consciously trying to distance
himself and detach himself from Christianity. Look
at his stories, for example. None of his plays is
based on a biblical story, right? And yet, by
heaven, I think my love as rare as any sheep
allied with false compare. It's like, I want you
to do this. you know experiment like go to your
friend one any of your friends and tell her for
example like I know you you you're not punctual
you're a liar you're lazy you're a huge eater you
don't like pizza you're like and count like 30
things and then but I like you that's devastating
like that you're all the horrible things in the
world
Imperfections, okay everybody is imperfect but if
you're talking to me like why are you just digging
you know excavating even for things that people
don't know and we see this all the time like in
comic shows like how people try to compliment
somebody that he's like okay say that he's not
punctual sometimes he's late he likes pizza like
too much but he's a really good something. But if
you count like a hundred flows, you're making me
unacceptable in any situation. So I'll ask you a
couple of questions. Number one, what do you think
of the tone? Do you take this as a serious poem?
And how would you react to this as a woman? Or how
would you react to this as a woman? And then the
second question, do you think that the tone is
serious or comic or light? Is this a lighthearted,
you know?
Please. Well, first of all, when I first read it,
I was really shocked. I didn't really understand
the concept, the whole concept of it. And then I
realized that he's actually like maybe describing
a very ordinary lady. Like I think that if I could
draw this person or this lady, I would, I would
see her as a normal person. Not stick drawing, of
course. Okay, it's my thing too by the way. So the
thing is that he's really describing an ordinary
lady, but it's somehow offensive. Like you're
writing poetry and poetry or sonnets are supposed
to be about love and appreciation. So why are you
doing this? So I think this is why I wouldn't take
it for, I wouldn't take it as a real poem. I would
take more of a, maybe like a parody or something
as comic. So this is a comic poem more than a
serious poem. Like, well, I come back to the point
here. I think we have, like you're saying, I don't
want to take it as a serious poem. I'll take it as
a comic or a parody. We'll come back to this point
because there's a misunderstanding about what
parody is, please.
So unfunny? He's not, this is unfunny, okay good
Listen, you know I like Shakespeare, you can trash
him, I'm not going to judge you, so feel free. For
me actually, I really liked him for many reasons.
First one, I think Shakespeare was trying to try a
new era for his poets, so he was making a… To try,
sorry, a new?
Yeah,
but you say despite the shortcomings, but you
don't list a hundred of them. If you count a
hundred of them, if you have the time to count a
hundred shortcomings, come on.
In a negative way.
Okay, he could have said that. He could have said
that you are an average person. Like Trump would
say she's a five or three or four. Please. because
it's like they said that even of her bad like bad
characters yeah I mean if you are if your lips are
not red if you are not wise if even of all this
thing I love you it's like he puts her in a frame
of beauty that he is like making a favor that I
But where is the frame of beauty? There's no
beauty here, like conventional. The frame of
beauty that her lips should be very red and she
must be white and these things. I want to say that
I would appreciate it more if he said more serious
things that even, for example, more important
things than... Like what? Can you give...
Examples, what are more important to be praised in
a woman, in your opinion? Okay, that's an
excellent point. This is a poem highlighting,
showcasing the physical appearance of women saying
this is what men appreciate. And at the same time
ignoring altogether the fact this is a human
being, a personality and a character, the brain,
the intellectuality of the woman. Thank you, good
point.
Say again. Okay. And he wrote 154.
Okay. Yeah.
He's tired.
He's tired of writing and praising, so he's
changing. I never looked at data from this. Why
didn't he get tired at sonnet, for example, 140 or
50? But yeah, I take your point. By the way, some
people might find it also, listen, some people
believe that this order of the sonnets is not
probably the right order that Shakespeare wrote
them in. But that is an interesting point, like
it's time for change. It's time for change,
please. I think we should also look at the role of
the woman which led him to write this, because
it's maybe she was obsessed about perfection and
he's convincing her. He's destroying her, he's
bringing her down. No, he's convincing her that he
doesn't care about these things and she's perfect.
He's perfect the way she is. She doesn't have to
be obsessed with, you know, filters and Snapchat
filters and dog filter and please. I think that
it's offensive for him. It's like he's grudging
her his love even though she is not like the
perfect woman in Poland. But what about his His
own appearance?
But what
I notice is that you totally agree that these are
shortcomings. Are they?
Somebody doesn't have fair hair, should they kill
themselves?
Because of, yeah, the traditional standards of
beauty at that time, white, fair hair, possibly
red lips, white skin, et cetera, et cetera. So is
Shakespeare trying to, again, criticize and attack
these standards of beauty rather than trashing the
woman? I said maybe that I would like a friend to
tell me about that they respect me despite my
shortcomings. But I wouldn't like a lover to
describe me that way, but at the same time, I
don't find it that offensive, you know? Okay, it's
not completely like a good poem, but it's not
really that offensive as the girls are describing
it. Who thinks it is offensive? Oh, that's very
few of you who thinks it's not offensive. That's
also very few of you. So there are many neutrals
here. Okay, please. Offensive or not? Offensive, I
think, but I have another opinion. I think he
loves her, but because he didn't able to reach
her, he said all these imperfections to console
himself, like not read as a coral or So is this
about him too consoling himself? Yeah, because he
loves her and he didn't ever torture her. Please.
Who said all these things are imperfections? None
of us has red cheeks, none of us has an eye like a
sun. He's being 100% realistic. I don't think this
is offensive. I think he's not framing her in a
beauty frame or something. She's not a model,
she's an average woman with these things, but
again, do you think Shakespeare is trying to be
realistic rather than offensive? Is he trying to
be realistic?
So offensive
or realistic? Okay. The imaginary fictional
beloved.
This is very blunt. This is really very blunt.
And you don't count like ten horrible devastating
things. You just say one thing. Yeah, probably ten
sonnets, one in each. But this is too much.
Why don't, why wouldn't people love those? Aren't
we doing the same thing? Aren't we committing the
same horrible thing ourselves? So okay, let's
again see here, there's this possibility that this
poem is a parody. and what is parody we'll see in
a bit but can you just very quickly what do you
think what what's parody say again okay again
you're also highlighting the comic element parody
is imitation an imitation of another literary text
another genre another poet basically in a comic
way so this could sound light and comic and funny
or an attempt at being funny.
Meaning we can take this as Shakespeare trying to
criticize the way women were perceived, the way
sonnets were written, the way women were
represented. Perhaps Shakespeare is criticizing
the mainstream standards of beauty at that time,
that a woman to be appreciated, a woman has to
have all these things. But some people might not
like this because they also feel that Shakespeare
himself is falling for the same thing. He's also,
because he's indicating that, he's saying, you
don't have these things, but I love you. He's not
saying these are not, In a way, these are not the
real standards of beauty and beauty is relative
and everybody, you know, can see beauty in the
things they love. He's not saying this. He's
saying you don't have these standards of beauty,
but and not only but, yet. I swear to God, by God,
by heaven, I like you. I love you. and think you
are rare. And there could be an implication here.
Shakespeare doesn't highlight the character of
this woman. But rare here, when he says like
physically, she's not that beautiful, probably
he's here, she's rare because of her mind and her
personality. But it's not clearly stated here.
Could be implied because she is rare. Her love is
rare. As any, she belied with false compare. She
can't be compared to false things. These things
are false, like you said. Who has eyes like the
sun? But again, this is positive. This is
metaphorically speaking. Now, the point I want to
make about this sonnet being a parody, actually
this is why I'm We're discussing this poem,
basically for this parody part. And don't forget
that Shakespeare himself used some of these beauty
standards to frame women, making this text also
self-parody.
So is Shakespeare mocking himself, making fun of
himself? Wow, he must have been very confident.
He's writing something and he's also parodying
himself, making fun of himself. He doesn't wait
for others to mock him. He's mocking himself. But
also mocking what we call courtly love.
Traditional courtly love, the way it was, the way
women were perceived and represented in this kind
of love. And yes, parody can be comic and funny,
sarcastic sometimes. We'll see in John Donne how
parody can be also a very serious genre. Extremely
serious. Not only about the message, it's just, it
destroys. Nowadays we see the comedy shows. Look
at the American politics. Every night you have
like so many comedy shows. The news is now. Comic,
because comedy, parody, these genres, they number
one, draw our attention to the fact that there is
an alternative, there is a possibility of another
reality, that this reality is not fixed, that you
can't change it. I'm showing you in my poetry, in
my stand-up comedy. So what Shakespeare is doing
is basically he is shattering, he is destroying
the mainstream standards of frames of beauty. He's
showing women and people that there are other
alternatives, that there are other possibilities.
He's inviting us by subverting, by turning the
standards of beauty upside down. giving us another
worldview that people probably didn't think of,
outside probably poetry maybe. So that's why I
take this as a serious, it sounds lighthearted,
but if you examine it from a parody point of view,
it sounds very serious. It sounds again like
Shakespeare himself, who is doing the same thing,
is trying to protest, or at least, attract women's
attention to the fact that there are other
possibilities, that you shouldn't be taking these
frames for granted. You can change them. And
that's why I highlighted these things. Lips read,
see eye, will I know, and again, how the poem came
against our expectation. I think this subversion
here, this change of the order, is an invitation
that the existing order in the society, the social
constructions of women, of beauty can be changed.
And I also like how he used the word compare as a
noun at the end. It should be with false
comparison. I know compare can be used as a noun,
but not a very common usage. I checked the Merriam
-Webster for the etymology of the word and it
says, and I find this very interesting, the first
time it was used as a noun was 1589.
Wow, that was like around the time Shakespeare was
writing sonnets. So again, this is stretching, a
lot of stretching, but did Shakespeare use the
verb compare as a noun to indicate to women, to
the audience, to readers that you can change
things. You don't have to take things as they are.
Here I am using verbs as nouns. Swapping the word
order, using the noun before the adjective, and
it's now your time to destroy again the given
mainstream constructs of the society. Women don't
have to be taken for granted. Women don't have to
be taken in these frames imposed upon them by
society and by men. This could be a lot of
stretching. I want you to think of this in this
slide as a parody. Shakespeare doing this stuff.
Please.
And again taking women for granted for like even
if the woman doesn't have these things you'd be
like you know he would be tricked into a
particular thing.
But again, what is beauty? Don't forget this. What
is beauty?
No, but I'm saying that because this is a
significant point. Beauty, there's nothing like,
again, like in Arabic we say, and it's the same
here. Like every woman sees her kid as the most
beautiful kid. Not only because he or she is the
kid, but because beauty is relative. It's not
fixed. The standards are not fixed. The society
usually has, and this is what Shakespeare is
attacking. I agree. I totally agree. When you give
this image to other girls and women, they will
feel themselves lesser.
True okay, I like I like your point. Thank you
very much more So
usually
we swear that means that the person is
okay nice more please don't
do this wow I like this yes because every woman
it's beauty in her own it's
a beauty haven't any
So he wanted to tell maybe the woman he spoke
about her felt that she is not beautiful because
of the society. And he tried to tell her there is
no one beautiful in this world. Okay I like your
point here but again Shakespeare he could have
done it a little bit differently. That's too much.
That you're also putting this woman down. But
again, this sarcastic, this parody aspect is what
I like about the poem. Exaggerating things
sometimes. Let's just move a little bit to the
things I highlighted. So the structure of the
sonnet, if you go back, three quadrants developing
the same idea, and then the twist comes at the
end. The rhyme scheme is perfect. A, B, A, B, C,
D, C, D, E, F, E, F, G, G. There's no imperfection
here. The tone can be taken differently. Some of
you might take this as a serious poem. Some of you
might take this as a comic light, light poem. But
again, comedy doesn't necessarily mean it's not
serious or there is nothing happening there. Look
at these questions. I want you to think about them
when you go home. We'll share, we can discuss some
of them on our Facebook group. How can this be
taken as a parody or self-parody?
What does that tell about Shakespeare? Again, this
is like he's being a social critic and also a
literary critic. See the point? He's being a
literal critic. As if, again, he's saying that,
stop doing this in your sonnets, come on. In his
own way. He goes back to something else. How would
a woman feel reading this? Would a woman feel
comfortable, uncomfortable? And I like how you
give me different opinions. Again, whatever
opinion you believe in, just go for it, support it
with textual evidence, and you're good to go.
Where is the woman in the text? And this is the
point I want to go back to The huge difference
between shall I compare thee to a summer's day,
one of the major differences shall I compare thee
to a summer's day and my mistress eyes is what?
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Say again?
We don't have the woman here
Okay. What about this poem?
What pronoun do you have here?
Okay. What I feel is that sonnet 18, the woman is
present. He's talking to her face. He's talking to
her. Shall I compare thee thou art gives life to
thee. Yes, she is silent or silenced. Probably
Shakespeare is shushing her like I'm shushing you
now. But she is present because he's talking to
her. Please, any poem you read, look at the
tenses, look at the pronouns. Try to locate and
position the speaker and to examine who the
addressee is. In Sonnet 18, the woman is there, at
least fictionally speaking. In sonnet 130, the
woman is not there. She is absent and also silent
or silenced. So he's using the third person
pronoun here. She, her eyes, she, she. she's
absent and again what does this what does this say
about the the whole sonnet like you know uh uh he
he he can't even stand in front of her and read
the poem recite the poem does he know that she's
going to i don't know punch him if they say that
this is offensive he cares about her and he does
not want to say all these things in her face But
it's even worse if he's saying behind her back,
like who's he saying this to? Her mother-in-law?
I want you to think of this, why is the woman
absent, totally absent? Okay, nice, nice. Where is
the woman in the poem? Is that enough? I want you
to try to see how the sonnet turns at the couplet
there. I'll just go through this very quickly. We
can comment on this online. So parody, Shakespeare
here is turning traditional standards of beauty on
their head. Not in, on their head. He's turning
things upside down. Inside out, trying to change
the social constructs. The beloved's imperfections
here rather than her perfections are highlighted
and emphasized. Idealistic love it seems, like
courtly love, is being mocked.
which again breaks new ground. If Shakespeare is
again assuming to be a social critic and a
literary critic, that is really interesting. Can
we find more of this in Shakespeare? Because by
the way, if you go to Hamlet, Shakespeare always
makes fun of himself because he was always accused
of having these long monologues, boring speeches,
et cetera. In Hamlet, you'll find many times
Shakespeare making fun of himself. as a
playwright. So this is significant to me. Breaks
new ground and allows people to reconsider the
social constructs imposed upon them by offering a
possibility, a new worldview. And this is parody,
not always comic. We'll see this later on. So we
go back to the sonnet, just to summarize in two
minutes. Fourteen lines, love poem, Italy,
Petrarca. You know I was surprised that Petrarca
doesn't end in a vowel like almost all Italian
words. And I assume that this man is originally, I
don't know, an Arab because it turns out that in
Italian he is Petrarca. So still we go back to the
beautiful Italian vowel at the end. And Dante,
14th century, the sunet migrated to England by,
and it was brought by Henry Howard and Sir Thomas
Wyatt in the 16th century. The Petrarch, the
Petrarchan sunet, just as a reminder, has two
parts, the octave, eight line stanzas, the sextet,
six line stanzas, and the rhyme scheme here, we
have the octave presenting the crisis, the
dilemma. and assist it trying to make sense of the
world, present a closure or a resolution. With
Shakespeare however A sonnet rhymes differently. A
B A B C D C D E F E F G with Shakespeare get to GG
and you're fine. No GG, no Shakespeare.
Shakespeare's sonnets consist of three quadrants
and one couplet. Sometimes line nine is the volta
or the twist and sometimes the couplet itself is
the twist. Ten syllables, five feet each line.
iambic pentameter like 95% of the time or 90% of
the time. The iambic pentameter is similar to the
conversational tone of English, some people think.
That's why almost 80% of English poetry, this is a
number I just made up, is iambic pentameter. The
sonnets usually develop an idea in each of the
three quadrants and then the rhyming couplet
offers a closure or a resolution.
There's so many themes in Shakespeare, and that's
why Shakespeare not only experimented on the form
and the rhyme scheme, he tried to expand the theme
itself, not only pure love, the woman and how she
behaves and how she looks. To include time,
mortality, immortality, transience of beauty,
lawlessness of life, destructiveness of nature,
inevitability of death, immortality of art, and
his poetry, which is really interesting. Going to
the form, the sonnet's form is rigid and rigid not
in a negative way here, like it's very strict,
it's highly calculated, something that allows the
poet to focus his topic or hair of course.
Basically, the highly calculated structure brings
order to the disorder of life, tries to control
the uncontrollable. It says next, sometimes the
neatness of the sonnet presents a stark contrast
to the harsh reality. It's neat, it's order, it's
organized, but reality is harsh and tough. So it
presents a stark contrast to the harsh reality of
life that does not conform to an ordered pattern.
Honor beauty or respect genius. Life does not
conform to order. Life does not honor beauty. Life
does not respect genius. And that's why
Shakespeare is trying to confront this. I should
live forever. And he does in his poetry. The form
requires compression of ideas in such a way where
the topic is highly intensified. And this is
finally what I wanted to say about the sonnet. We
will keep going back to the sonnet. I'll stop
here. Next class we have Christopher Marlowe's The
Passionate Shepherd. A very interesting poem.
We're still doing Renaissance poetry. Thank you.
If you have questions, please stay behind.