1 00:00:05,170 --> 00:00:07,910 Assalamualaikum and welcome back again to English 2 00:00:07,910 --> 00:00:10,290 poetry at the Islamic University of Gaza, 3 00:00:10,950 --> 00:00:14,930 Palestine. We are still talking about the sonnet. 4 00:00:15,010 --> 00:00:17,970 We'll be talking about the sonnet in every major 5 00:00:17,970 --> 00:00:24,930 poetry movement. Last time we discussed "Shall I 6 00:00:24,930 --> 00:00:28,970 Compare Thee to a Summer's Day," Sonnet 18. We 7 00:00:28,970 --> 00:00:31,230 discussed the form, the content, the theme, the 8 00:00:31,230 --> 00:00:35,020 features, and many other things. Today we'll 9 00:00:35,020 --> 00:00:40,380 basically examine Sonnet 130, or as 10 00:00:40,380 --> 00:00:45,200 it's sometimes known as "My Mistress' Eyes." But 11 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,200 before I go to this sonnet, I'll go 12 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:53,160 back again to Sonnet 18 and examine issues or 13 00:00:53,160 --> 00:00:55,640 repeat issues we mentioned last 14 00:00:55,640 --> 00:01:00,840 time, so we highlight them. Remember we said 15 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:08,910 Shakespeare's sonnets are three quatrains and one 16 00:01:08,910 --> 00:01:13,610 couplet. Sometimes in a sonnet we have three 17 00:01:13,610 --> 00:01:16,130 quatrains developing the same thing, the same 18 00:01:16,130 --> 00:01:19,510 image, in other words, in different ways, and then 19 00:01:19,510 --> 00:01:23,270 we have the turn, or the volta, or the twist at the 20 00:01:23,270 --> 00:01:26,950 very end. However, some sonnets actually do 21 00:01:26,950 --> 00:01:31,500 have quatrain one and quatrain two highlighting the issue 22 00:01:31,500 --> 00:01:35,220 or the crisis or the complication, and then the 23 00:01:35,220 --> 00:01:39,240 third quatrain twists the argument, like we have 24 00:01:39,240 --> 00:01:41,620 in "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day," 25 00:01:41,980 --> 00:01:46,220 because this third quatrain stands: "But thy 26 00:01:46,220 --> 00:01:49,780 eternal." So everything dies, everything declines, 27 00:01:50,730 --> 00:01:54,590 but thy eternal beauty does not, not because of 28 00:01:54,590 --> 00:01:57,390 something special in you, not because you're 29 00:01:57,390 --> 00:02:00,170 different, but because I make you different, because 30 00:02:00,170 --> 00:02:05,170 Shakespeare's poetry makes you different. Reading 31 00:02:05,170 --> 00:02:07,890 this text, we could stop at different things, like 32 00:02:07,890 --> 00:02:11,250 the word "temperate." Now, the dictionary gives you two 33 00:02:11,250 --> 00:02:14,410 pronunciations: temperate (two syllables), or 34 00:02:14,410 --> 00:02:18,330 temperate (three syllables). And because this 35 00:02:18,330 --> 00:02:24,150 rhymes with "date"—the long A, the triphthong, A—it 36 00:02:24,150 --> 00:02:28,850 doesn't work 100% with the rhyme scheme. There's a 37 00:02:28,850 --> 00:02:31,470 bunch of possibilities here. Number one: maybe 38 00:02:31,470 --> 00:02:34,610 during Shakespeare's time, it was pronounced 39 00:02:34,610 --> 00:02:37,510 "temperate." That's one. Or number two: some people 40 00:02:37,510 --> 00:02:40,190 say, for poetic license, just to make it more 41 00:02:40,190 --> 00:02:44,030 musical, go for "temperate." Something I don't like. 42 00:02:45,900 --> 00:02:48,560 Now, if it remains "temperate," it means this is an 43 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,760 imperfect rhyme. And still, if you go for two 44 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:56,780 syllables ("temperate"), it makes nine syllables. 45 00:02:57,060 --> 00:03:03,780 Again, creating double trouble here. And in my 46 00:03:03,780 --> 00:03:05,620 opinion, this is always, with Shakespeare, this is 47 00:03:05,620 --> 00:03:08,180 always connected with the meaning. So he's saying, 48 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:10,860 "they were more lovely and more temperate," but the 49 00:03:10,860 --> 00:03:13,240 line in which he claims and states that she is 50 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:18,240 more temperate—she's perfect—it's imperfect in 51 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:22,680 two things. And the perfection can only be 52 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:27,060 achieved if she loves him back. Assuming that this 53 00:03:27,060 --> 00:03:29,920 is addressed to a woman, because many people take 54 00:03:29,920 --> 00:03:36,500 it for granted that Shakespeare's 126 sonnets are 55 00:03:36,500 --> 00:03:39,160 for a man. I don't care about this. I read this as 56 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:43,760 a love poem. Okay, so this is number one. Number 57 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:48,500 two, I always like to stop at the "and" and the "the" at the 58 00:03:48,500 --> 00:03:50,900 end. The two "the"s we have here. The object 59 00:03:50,900 --> 00:03:54,240 pronounced for the addressee—the beloved—sort of 60 00:03:54,240 --> 00:04:01,400 When we did the meter, we said "Shall I compare thee to a" 61 00:04:01,400 --> 00:04:04,220 and this is an unstressed syllable, a weak syllable, 62 00:04:04,220 --> 00:04:08,120 insignificant compared to the stressed syllable. 63 00:04:09,140 --> 00:04:11,680 However, when you go to this, when you go here, "So 64 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,920 long lives this," and this gives life to thee. 65 00:04:17,500 --> 00:04:21,880 Started unstressed, weak, insignificant, 66 00:04:22,300 --> 00:04:26,600 unimportant, short, and ended, because when you 67 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:29,160 say a stressed syllable, it's a syllable that is 68 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:32,660 strong, that is long, basically. It's given more 69 00:04:32,660 --> 00:04:34,820 emphasis in the way we speak, and this is the 70 00:04:34,820 --> 00:04:39,580 nature of the English language. And always in an 71 00:04:39,580 --> 00:04:41,700 English poem, in poetry in general, even in Arabic 72 00:04:41,700 --> 00:04:45,540 poetry, the poem begins somewhere and it ends 73 00:04:45,540 --> 00:04:48,020 somewhere else, because this is basically where the 74 00:04:48,020 --> 00:04:51,420 poet is taking us. You begin this way and then you 75 00:04:51,420 --> 00:04:53,800 end differently, a little bit different, or 76 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:58,980 sometimes dramatically different. I think there's 77 00:04:58,980 --> 00:05:01,820 a connection here between the woman, the addressee, 78 00:05:01,820 --> 00:05:07,250 being unstressed, insignificant, and ending. The 79 00:05:07,250 --> 00:05:10,170 stressed syllable being more important, more 80 00:05:10,170 --> 00:05:15,090 emphasized. Could be possibly it's just poetic, 81 00:05:15,190 --> 00:05:20,990 yeah? Could be just there for no reason. I feel 82 00:05:20,990 --> 00:05:23,130 that this is what I like to do with poetry: like 83 00:05:23,130 --> 00:05:25,890 to try to connect these tiny little things in the 84 00:05:25,890 --> 00:05:29,050 form, in the rhyme scheme, in the sounds, to the 85 00:05:29,050 --> 00:05:32,350 meaning. So what happened here? What changed? Why 86 00:05:32,350 --> 00:05:38,040 has the unstressed initially become stressed at 87 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,200 the end? What changed in the poem? What do we have 88 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:43,120 in the ending of the poem that we didn't have in 89 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:44,100 the opening? Please. 90 00:05:49,380 --> 00:05:54,120 Why isn't 91 00:05:54,120 --> 00:05:54,660 she important? 92 00:05:58,540 --> 00:06:01,160 Why wasn't she important in the opening? 93 00:06:10,890 --> 00:06:13,350 Okay, so Shakespeare gives her importance 94 00:06:13,350 --> 00:06:17,570 here. Is there any condition, any tax, anything? 95 00:06:18,050 --> 00:06:22,410 It was just for free? What happens here? Please. I 96 00:06:22,410 --> 00:06:25,110 don't know about the beginning, but in the end, I 97 00:06:25,110 --> 00:06:30,310 think he's speaking like he's sure that he will 98 00:06:30,310 --> 00:06:34,050 give her life forever. He will make her live 99 00:06:34,050 --> 00:06:37,920 forever. There's confidence here, the way 100 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:39,940 Shakespeare speaks. He is confident, definitely. 101 00:06:40,600 --> 00:06:44,220 And so is he in the opening. He is also confident. 102 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:46,880 I think that the poet's confidence does not 103 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:51,820 change. Something else changes. Please. At first, 104 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:57,100 she wasn't with him. But in the end, he's asking 105 00:06:57,100 --> 00:07:01,120 her to be with him. And this, I think, will make 106 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:07,580 her more powerful and more... okay, eternal. I think 107 00:07:07,580 --> 00:07:12,420 this is in many ways true. Here he's still—he's 108 00:07:12,420 --> 00:07:17,640 trying to convince her, to win her heart. She is 109 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:20,800 not with him. And again, even like I was reading 110 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,440 something the other night about the 111 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:27,420 misunderstanding people usually have when they say 112 00:07:27,420 --> 00:07:31,120 this poem was written for a man. It doesn't 113 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:33,240 necessarily mean Shakespeare wrote it for a man. 114 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:37,270 It could be... The fact that he wrote it for a man to 115 00:07:37,270 --> 00:07:39,690 send to a woman. Still, you know, the addressee 116 00:07:39,690 --> 00:07:43,130 is basically a woman. Because again, when you had 117 00:07:43,130 --> 00:07:45,630 a patron at that time, the patron would give you 118 00:07:45,630 --> 00:07:50,290 protection—political, social protection—and you 119 00:07:50,290 --> 00:07:52,930 know, and also sometimes would give you money. 120 00:07:56,550 --> 00:07:59,630 Why? Just to write poems. "Please write me a poem 121 00:07:59,630 --> 00:08:01,710 here, write me a poem there, I want a poem here, I 122 00:08:01,710 --> 00:08:06,100 want to send a poem to this or that." So even if 123 00:08:06,100 --> 00:08:10,100 you take it for granted that the first 126 sonnets 124 00:08:10,100 --> 00:08:13,540 were written for a man, it's possible that some of 125 00:08:13,540 --> 00:08:19,100 them were written for a man to be sent to a woman. 126 00:08:20,020 --> 00:08:23,560 Okay, the other thing is, again, this "but." The 127 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:27,880 twist here, the volta, it's called. Sometimes we 128 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:29,860 have it—usually we have it here—but sometimes we 129 00:08:29,860 --> 00:08:33,800 have it in the couplet. So the sonnet here goes for 130 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:36,980 eight lines saying that everything dies, every 131 00:08:36,980 --> 00:08:41,760 thing from fearsome time declines. Beauty is 132 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:45,520 transient. It doesn't last forever. Everybody 133 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:49,300 dies. Even the most beautiful time of the year is 134 00:08:49,300 --> 00:08:52,860 short. It's too hot. Sometimes nature is cruel, 135 00:08:53,340 --> 00:08:57,600 destructive. But there is hope. There is a way out 136 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:02,700 of this. And I also like to comment on the use of 137 00:09:02,700 --> 00:09:06,780 "when." It could have been, by the way, "by chance," or 138 00:09:06,780 --> 00:09:09,560 "nature's changing course," or "trend," "when," in eternal 139 00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:14,300 lines to time thou growest, thy eternal something 140 00:09:14,300 --> 00:09:16,900 something. But Shakespeare delays this—the 141 00:09:16,900 --> 00:09:20,820 condition, which is beautiful from an 142 00:09:20,820 --> 00:09:25,020 argumentative point of view. The poem's logic 143 00:09:25,020 --> 00:09:27,780 is really beautiful. It's again deliberately 144 00:09:27,780 --> 00:09:29,100 calculated. 145 00:09:31,320 --> 00:09:36,040 So the "but" here creates a twist. When you are 146 00:09:36,040 --> 00:09:38,520 about to lose hope—if everybody is going to die, 147 00:09:38,580 --> 00:09:42,340 if every beautiful thing just declines, what the 148 00:09:42,340 --> 00:09:45,750 hell are we doing here?—There's a way. I can make 149 00:09:45,750 --> 00:09:48,450 you eternal. I can make you immortal. You can 150 00:09:48,450 --> 00:09:50,750 live—not only live in my poetry, you can also 151 00:09:50,750 --> 00:09:54,410 grow. Like now, everybody, we're here in Gaza, 152 00:09:54,510 --> 00:09:57,190 we're talking about this Shakespearean sonnet 153 00:09:57,190 --> 00:10:01,170 about the addressee. The "when" could have been an 154 00:10:01,170 --> 00:10:06,250 "if." And "when" is more... this is confidence again. 155 00:10:06,790 --> 00:10:09,700 More certain; there's certainty here. And again, 156 00:10:09,700 --> 00:10:11,400 answering the question whether Shakespeare knew 157 00:10:11,400 --> 00:10:13,700 that he was great, that he was writing great poetry, 158 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,820 that he was destined for greatness. Definitely he 159 00:10:16,820 --> 00:10:20,580 had a feeling that he would be a cool guy in the 160 00:10:20,580 --> 00:10:23,780 future, to be loved by every single student around 161 00:10:23,780 --> 00:10:29,060 the world. Okay, the other thing before I go to 162 00:10:29,060 --> 00:10:32,980 the meter, the other thing is the fact that 163 00:10:32,980 --> 00:10:38,990 Shakespeare personifies death. Again, there's this 164 00:10:38,990 --> 00:10:43,090 thing about Shakespeare being obsessed with death. 165 00:10:43,090 --> 00:10:46,170 You'll find it everywhere in his works, in his 166 00:10:46,170 --> 00:10:49,690 plays. And 167 00:10:49,690 --> 00:10:51,470 many people try to connect between Shakespeare and 168 00:10:51,470 --> 00:10:56,770 Hamlet and examine how death—the undiscovered 169 00:10:56,770 --> 00:10:59,230 country from whose bourn no traveller returns— 170 00:11:02,900 --> 00:11:05,340 Now, clearly, Shakespeare... I don't want to say 171 00:11:05,340 --> 00:11:08,120 clearly; some people believe that Shakespeare felt 172 00:11:08,120 --> 00:11:15,260 bad and sorry and angry and frustrated because 173 00:11:15,260 --> 00:11:19,560 he's going to die. And I think many great people 174 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:22,620 do feel the same. Why should I die? Why do bad 175 00:11:22,620 --> 00:11:25,560 people live forever, and I, the good guy with a 176 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:27,440 good heart and good potency and good everything, 177 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:30,940 am going to die? So there's always this battle 178 00:11:30,940 --> 00:11:35,350 between Shakespeare and death. And if the 179 00:11:35,350 --> 00:11:37,890 battleground is in the sonnets, Shakespeare comes 180 00:11:37,890 --> 00:11:41,170 out the winner. So the personification of death 181 00:11:41,170 --> 00:11:45,330 here brings death down. Brings death down to us as 182 00:11:45,330 --> 00:11:51,570 a human being, undermining the might of death, the 183 00:11:51,570 --> 00:11:57,590 strength of death, saying death is another human 184 00:11:57,590 --> 00:12:03,010 being that even can't brag. Even death is not bragging 185 00:12:05,620 --> 00:12:10,060 Why? Simply because, "in eternal lines to time thou 186 00:12:10,060 --> 00:12:15,820 growest." The last point before I saw some of you 187 00:12:15,820 --> 00:12:20,700 raise your hands. Remember this is a trochee, 188 00:12:20,820 --> 00:12:25,200 this is an iamb. Stressed, unstressed. Almost 189 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:30,340 the whole poem follows this iambic pentameter. 190 00:12:32,170 --> 00:12:37,830 Except maybe here, and here, and here, and here. 191 00:12:41,570 --> 00:12:44,830 Creating something called, in poetry, a spondee. 192 00:12:46,430 --> 00:12:49,850 Spondee. Look at how tough the word is: Spondee. 193 00:12:50,530 --> 00 223 00:14:51,630 --> 00:14:56,550 like a storm. And this term is not only with an F, 224 00:14:56,730 --> 00:15:00,150 it's also destructive, it destroys. So rough winds 225 00:15:00,150 --> 00:15:04,370 here, there is an emphasis on the fact that nature 226 00:15:04,370 --> 00:15:08,450 is destructive. That nature destroys beauty. 227 00:15:11,090 --> 00:15:13,630 The same with "do shake." Some might say, no, I 228 00:15:13,630 --> 00:15:18,070 don't want to stress "do." Okay, it's an I am. So 229 00:15:18,070 --> 00:15:21,830 rough winds do shake, or rough winds do shake, do 230 00:15:21,830 --> 00:15:26,930 shake or do shake. The same thing happens in the 231 00:15:26,930 --> 00:15:30,630 end. Lives this. I like again Rahaf's suggestion 232 00:15:30,630 --> 00:15:34,010 that "lives" might not be stressed, but "this" might, 233 00:15:34,610 --> 00:15:36,950 giving more emphasis to this Shakespeare's poetry 234 00:15:36,950 --> 00:15:40,150 over life, because yes, Shakespeare's poetry 235 00:15:40,150 --> 00:15:45,170 outlives life. He died, she died, everybody died, 236 00:15:45,430 --> 00:15:49,750 but he still lives forever and ever. Not only 237 00:15:49,750 --> 00:15:53,560 living, but also growing. Okay, anything you want 238 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:59,620 to say about Sonnet 18, please. Yeah. It was about 239 00:15:59,620 --> 00:16:03,800 when you mentioned who Shakespeare wrote the sonnet 240 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:08,040 for. The thing that always confuses me is why do 241 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:10,080 they always consider that the speaker is 242 00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:12,740 Shakespeare himself? Yeah, you're right. It could 243 00:16:12,740 --> 00:16:16,380 be a woman speaking to a man. You're right. 244 00:16:25,890 --> 00:16:29,890 You're completely right. The persona is not 245 00:16:29,890 --> 00:16:33,110 necessarily the poet. The persona could be a 246 00:16:33,110 --> 00:16:38,750 fictional person, and this is true here, true in 247 00:16:38,750 --> 00:16:43,530 fiction and short stories and in novels. 248 00:16:44,890 --> 00:16:47,610 I think at that time it was taken for granted that 249 00:16:47,610 --> 00:16:50,950 the speaker is basically a man. Because it was 250 00:16:50,950 --> 00:16:53,730 taken for granted that only men could write poetry 251 00:16:53,730 --> 00:16:56,950 at that time. But yeah, good point. Thank you very 252 00:16:56,950 --> 00:17:00,790 much. beautiful overall, but I took it from a 253 00:17:00,790 --> 00:17:03,430 feminist perspective. First, he said, "Shall I 254 00:17:03,430 --> 00:17:06,070 compare thee?" So he's politely suggesting or 255 00:17:06,070 --> 00:17:12,150 asking for her permission. And then in line 12, when 256 00:17:12,150 --> 00:17:16,930 he says "in eternal lines," after he owns her and he 257 00:17:16,930 --> 00:17:20,070 gets what he wants, he's, when eternalized to 258 00:17:20,070 --> 00:17:22,670 the time that grows, he's saying that he's like giving 259 00:17:22,670 --> 00:17:26,190 her a favor, that he's eternalizing her in his 260 00:17:26,190 --> 00:17:29,050 poetry. But I think that she doesn't need him. 261 00:17:29,310 --> 00:17:31,730 It's not like he's dealing with a woman that's 262 00:17:31,730 --> 00:17:35,130 like his proper priority. I'm not sure, okay. And 263 00:17:35,130 --> 00:17:38,370 that he owns her. Okay, "you are mine." I had a 264 00:17:38,370 --> 00:17:40,830 chance. Either I want to immortalize you or I 265 00:17:40,830 --> 00:17:44,210 don't. So it's not that he likes the woman as a 266 00:17:44,210 --> 00:17:46,450 woman. He likes her because he can control her. He 267 00:17:46,450 --> 00:17:49,580 can use her to show how good he is. Yeah, yeah, 268 00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:53,300 yeah, there's this. But again, also, I don't want 269 00:17:53,300 --> 00:17:57,160 to assume that he won her heart here. This is all 270 00:17:57,160 --> 00:18:00,180 still an assumption. Because where is the woman? 271 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:02,020 Thank you for raising this point. Where is the 272 00:18:02,020 --> 00:18:06,320 woman in the text? She's not there. She's not 273 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:09,700 responding to him. She's not saying, okay, maybe 274 00:18:09,700 --> 00:18:11,460 she said, "Okay, I'll think about it. Give me just 275 00:18:11,460 --> 00:18:17,520 three, four, 10 years." I don't think there is any 276 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:19,560 indication in the poem that she's saying okay, 277 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:24,360 okay, okay. So yeah, you can read this as a 278 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:27,300 feminist and say that this is not good, this is 279 00:18:27,300 --> 00:18:32,640 anti-feminist. Okay, we have something, a parody, 280 00:18:33,140 --> 00:18:33,380 Noha. 281 00:18:36,410 --> 00:18:39,390 Please write parodies. Parodies are fun. Let's see 282 00:18:39,390 --> 00:18:42,510 how things go. You asked where is the woman in 283 00:18:42,510 --> 00:18:45,150 Shakespeare's sonnet, and here I am going to talk 284 00:18:45,150 --> 00:18:50,970 to you about the woman. So here I wrote it from a 285 00:18:50,970 --> 0:18:53,550 feminist point of view. I didn't really like the 286 00:18:53,550 --> 00:18:56,740 fact that Shakespeare is trying, is boasting, 287 00:18:56,860 --> 00:18:59,460 let's not say Shakespeare, the persona is like 288 00:18:59,460 --> 00:19:02,200 keeps boasting about how he's going to immortalize 289 00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:04,900 her in his poetry. I don't really like this, and 290 00:19:04,900 --> 00:19:08,540 also how he only loves her because she's fair. Can 291 00:19:08,540 --> 00:19:12,260 you speak up? Okay, okay, so basically here I'm a 292 00:19:12,260 --> 00:19:15,680 strong independent woman. "Shall I compare thee to 293 00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:18,520 a boasting bear, thou art more desperate and 294 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:22,160 more voracious?" Bold men describe a lady as fair, 295 00:19:22,380 --> 00:19:25,100 and imprison her in lines as if gracious. 296 00:19:26,260 --> 00:19:29,420 Sometimes too reckless, the evolved ape behaves, 297 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:33,240 and often is his mind detached from his brain. And 298 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:36,820 every fair confronting fair sometimes caves by 299 00:19:36,820 --> 00:19:40,970 chance or a human that is sane. But thy eternal 300 00:19:40,970 --> 00:19:44,530 vanity shall not be destroyed except by the morals 301 00:19:44,530 --> 00:19:48,150 a fair lady owest, nor shall thy braggart's soul 302 00:19:48,150 --> 00:19:53,430 be void unless it more dominance showest. So long 303 00:19:53,430 --> 00:19:57,490 as women can breathe or eyes can see, so long 304 00:19:57,490 --> 00:20:00,990 lives this, and this gives life to thee. Okay, nice. 305 00:20:03,090 --> 00:20:05,310 Thank you very much. That's a really, really good 306 00:20:05,310 --> 00:20:05,650 parody. 307 00:20:08,340 --> 00:20:13,660 Okay, let's move very quickly to this poem. Just 308 00:20:13,660 --> 00:20:16,840 again, Shakespeare making the same point in 309 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:19,320 different ways, and this is interesting about 310 00:20:19,320 --> 00:20:21,820 Shakespeare. "Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor 311 00:20:21,820 --> 00:20:26,340 bound this sea, but sad mortality being an issue 312 00:20:26,340 --> 00:20:29,720 that Shakespeare struggles with, oversways their 313 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:32,660 power, et cetera." The point I want to make in this 314 00:20:32,660 --> 00:20:34,880 sonnet is just the couplet. Look at the couplet here 315 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,670 at the end. It's similar to Sonnet 18. "So long as 316 00:20:38,670 --> 00:20:40,470 men can breathe, or eyes can see, so long lives 317 00:20:40,470 --> 00:20:43,150 this, and this gives life to thee." Here he says, oh 318 00:20:43,150 --> 00:20:46,510 none, nothing is going to live forever unless 319 00:20:46,510 --> 00:20:52,270 going for the condition, you will live if, when, 320 00:20:52,670 --> 00:20:58,610 unless this miracle have might that in black ink, 321 00:20:59,050 --> 00:21:02,500 what's black ink? My poetry, this, my eternal 322 00:21:02,500 --> 00:21:06,420 lines. "That in black ink my love may still shine 323 00:21:06,420 --> 00:21:10,480 bright." You could, I'm not sure if you're 324 00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,280 interested in doing research on poetry. You could 325 00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:16,100 do research on Shakespeare's couplets. See how, 326 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:19,380 what they say. And if they say the same thing, 327 00:21:20,020 --> 00:21:23,240 different ways. Another sonnet I like by 328 00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:26,640 Shakespeare is Sonnet 73, I guess. 329 00:21:29,430 --> 00:21:31,610 Again, we're not going to study it in detail, just 330 00:21:31,610 --> 00:21:34,730 I want to make a couple of points. Number one, we 331 00:21:34,730 --> 00:21:40,610 have the quatrain here, quatrain two and quatrain 332 00:21:40,610 --> 00:21:44,390 three and then a couplet. Look at how each one 333 00:21:44,390 --> 00:21:49,230 begins. "That time of year thou mayst in me behold..." 334 00:21:49,230 --> 00:21:53,410 What's "mayst?" May, that's why some versions of the 335 00:21:53,410 --> 00:21:57,330 sonnet will usually drop the "st" for "thou," but they 336 00:21:57,330 --> 00:22:02,870 will keep the "thee" and "thou" and that "th." "In me 337 00:22:02,870 --> 00:22:06,450 behold," what's "behold?" See, that's a poetic word, 338 00:22:06,510 --> 00:22:09,570 it's a beautiful word. "Behold, when yellow leaves 339 00:22:09,570 --> 00:22:15,410 or none of you do hang..." I don't know why, but I 340 00:22:15,410 --> 00:22:17,670 have never written a more beautiful line than this 341 00:22:17,670 --> 00:22:23,490 one in the description. "When yellow leaves, or none 342 00:22:24,970 --> 00:22:28,450 of you do hang," you know in early leaves, what 343 00:22:28,450 --> 00:22:31,270 time of year is this? Autumn. That's autumn. So 344 00:22:31,270 --> 00:22:35,030 he's describing autumn, and autumn is the end of 345 00:22:35,030 --> 00:22:40,690 the year. "Upon those boughs which shake against 346 00:22:40,690 --> 00:22:42,950 the cold." And I like the use of "shake, shake, shake," 347 00:22:43,010 --> 00:22:46,030 every time it shakes. That's half his name. "Upon 348 00:22:46,030 --> 00:22:48,910 those boughs which shake against the cold." And 349 00:22:48,910 --> 00:22:52,190 look at how, it's not cold yet here in Gaza, but 350 00:22:52,190 --> 00:22:55,030 look at this personification, personifying the 351 00:22:55,030 --> 00:22:58,850 boughs, the branches as very old people shaking 352 00:22:58,850 --> 00:23:01,150 because of the cold. Look at this image. 353 00:23:01,810 --> 00:23:06,730 Fascinating. Beautiful. Sad, but beautiful. It's 354 00:23:06,730 --> 00:23:11,390 not people shaking here. It's so cold that even 355 00:23:11,390 --> 00:23:15,940 the branches are shaking against the cold. "With 356 00:23:15,940 --> 00:23:19,660 shake against the cold, bare ruined choirs where 357 00:23:19,660 --> 00:23:24,440 laid, the sweet birds sang." Look at the sad. This 358 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:28,560 musicality here. But it's no longer there, the 359 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:33,580 singing. "Sang." It's in the past. They no longer 360 00:23:33,580 --> 00:23:37,940 sing. And look at the tough beginning here of the 361 00:23:37,940 --> 00:23:41,220 line, like the spondee, "just bare ruined choirs 362 00:23:41,220 --> 00:23:46,550 were laid, the sweet birds sang." So the ending of 363 00:23:46,550 --> 00:23:51,990 the year, autumn, fall. And now the second stanza, 364 00:23:52,370 --> 00:23:57,850 quatrain, goes for, "in me again, thou see'st the 365 00:23:57,850 --> 00:24:03,190 twilight of such a day." And twilight is? Twilight 366 00:24:03,190 --> 00:24:09,940 is what time of the day is it? Basically? The 367 00:24:09,940 --> 00:24:13,060 ending of the day. The twilight is the ending of 368 00:24:13,060 --> 00:24:18,480 the day. "In me thou see'st the twilight of such 369 00:24:18,480 --> 00:24:24,180 a day as after sunset fades the west, which by 370 00:24:24,180 --> 00:24:28,600 and by black night does take away death's second 371 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:32,640 self." And again, many people criticized 372 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:36,600 Shakespeare for saying the obvious in in many 373 00:24:36,600 --> 00:24:39,340 unobvious ways. You know, sometimes you make fun 374 00:24:39,340 --> 00:24:42,840 of people who say Mr. Obvious. Shakespeare is Mr. 375 00:24:43,020 --> 00:24:47,340 Unobvious all the time. He just keeps, he doesn't 376 00:24:47,340 --> 00:24:51,880 like shortcuts. What's death's second self? Sleep. 377 00:24:52,900 --> 00:24:55,520 Sleeping, yeah. Why don't you say sleep, 378 00:24:55,520 --> 00:24:58,000 Shakespeare? Oh, other people, ordinary people say 379 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:02,430 sleep. I don't. "Death's second self that seals up 380 00:25:02,430 --> 00:25:05,910 all unrest." Look at the beautiful euphemistic 381 00:25:05,910 --> 00:25:09,030 terms here. "Rest" could be a pun. Let's take a rest 382 00:25:09,030 --> 00:25:14,830 and "rest in peace." Rest in peace. So this is the 383 00:25:14,830 --> 00:25:20,150 ending of the day. And then "in me again, thou 384 00:25:20,150 --> 00:25:26,170 see'st the glowing of such fire, that on the ashes 385 00:25:26,170 --> 00:25:31,610 of his youth does lie." Ashes is the ending of of 386 00:25:31,610 --> 00:25:35,890 the fire, the ending of the year, the ending of the 387 00:25:35,890 --> 00:25:39,290 day, the ending of the fire, probably here 388 00:25:39,290 --> 00:25:46,810 symbolizing passion and love, possible. 389 00:25:46,810 --> 00:25:52,760 Yeah. End of life, possible, yeah, yeah. "That on 390 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:57,460 the ashes of his youth does lie, as the deathbed 391 00:25:57,460 --> 00:26:02,080 wherein it must expire, consumed with that which 392 00:26:02,080 --> 00:26:07,860 it was nourished by." How the fire eats itself. And 393 00:26:07,860 --> 00:26:11,920 again, we're all going to die. Everything is going 394 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:17,830 to die. "Become the beautiful couplet here. This 395 00:26:17,830 --> 00:26:22,690 thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong." I 396 00:26:22,690 --> 00:26:25,690 know grammar was not totally standard, even the 397 00:26:25,690 --> 00:26:27,530 spelling with Shakespeare. You will be surprised 398 00:26:27,530 --> 00:26:31,390 if you see the original sonnet, how it was written 399 00:26:31,390 --> 00:26:33,810 during the time of Shakespeare. You will recognize 400 00:26:33,810 --> 00:26:36,570 some of the words, but not most of them. Like some 401 00:26:36,570 --> 00:26:40,010 of them will be not be recognized in the letters. The 402 00:26:40,010 --> 00:26:44,050 spelling was horrible. But don't take this as an 403 00:26:44,050 --> 00:26:46,270 excuse, telling me in the exam that you're writing 404 00:26:46,270 --> 00:26:50,210 like Shakespeare. So this could be stronger, 405 00:26:50,390 --> 00:26:52,570 right? Grammatically, now you say, we better say 406 00:26:52,570 --> 00:26:56,950 stronger, not "more strong." I love "more strong." So 407 00:26:56,950 --> 00:27:00,270 because everybody, everything dies, I think we 408 00:27:00,270 --> 00:27:04,890 should love each other more strongly. Love has to be 409 00:2 445 00:29:50,870 --> 00:29:56,600 believed with false comparisons. One more, please. My 446 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,980 mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun. Coral is far 447 00:29:59,980 --> 00:30:04,160 more red than her lips. If snow be white, why 448 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:08,300 then her breasts are white? If hairs be wires, 449 00:30:08,680 --> 00:30:13,180 black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses 450 00:30:13,180 --> 00:30:17,560 damasked, red and white, but no such roses see I 451 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:18,560 in her cheeks. 452 00:30:22,010 --> 00:30:26,250 And in some perfumes 453 00:30:26,250 --> 00:30:31,690 is there more delight than in the breath that from 454 00:30:31,690 --> 00:30:35,430 my mistress breathes. I love to hear her speak, yet 455 00:30:35,430 --> 00:30:39,910 well I know that music hath a far more pleasing 456 00:30:39,910 --> 00:30:43,770 sound. I grant I never saw a goddess glow. My 457 00:30:43,770 --> 00:30:46,530 mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. 458 00:30:46,910 --> 00:30:50,440 And yet, by heaven, I think my love is rare, as 459 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:57,580 rare as anything belied with false comparisons. 460 00:30:57,580 --> 00:31:00,980 Thank you. My mistress' eyes are nothing like the 461 00:31:00,980 --> 00:31:06,360 sun. Coral is far more red than her lips. If 462 00:31:06,360 --> 00:31:10,060 snow be white, why then her breasts are white? If 463 00:31:10,060 --> 00:31:15,460 hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head. I have 464 00:31:15,460 --> 00:31:19,160 seen roses, damasked, red and white, but no such 465 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:23,580 roses see I in her cheeks, and in some perfumes 466 00:31:23,580 --> 00:31:26,060 is there more delight than in the breath that from 467 00:31:26,060 --> 00:31:30,200 my mistress reeks. I love to hear her speak, yet 468 00:31:30,200 --> 00:31:33,540 well I know that music hath a far more pleasing 469 00:31:33,540 --> 00:31:38,960 sound. I grant I never saw a goddess go. My 470 00:31:38,960 --> 00:31:42,060 mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. 471 00:31:42,580 --> 00:31:45,860 And yet, by heaven, I think my love is rare, as 472 00:31:45,860 --> 00:31:51,000 any she belied with false comparisons. I am not sure 473 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:56,260 how you are reacting or reacted to this poem, 474 00:31:56,700 --> 00:31:59,640 reading it at home and listening to it on YouTube. 475 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:05,060 It always comes, even when I teach it almost every 476 00:32:05,060 --> 00:32:08,500 year. And every time I read it, I feel this kind 477 00:32:08,500 --> 00:32:12,360 of shock, unexpected of Shakespeare. This is not a 478 00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:16,100 sonnet we read about, we hear about, the love poem 479 00:32:16,100 --> 00:32:20,120 exalting the beloved, raising her above all 480 00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:25,240 natural beauties, all human beauties. To come to 481 00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:29,690 this, what on earth is Shakespeare doing? What's 482 00:32:29,690 --> 00:32:32,690 different this time? What is special about this 483 00:32:32,690 --> 00:32:35,510 sonnet? Let's just talk a little bit here and 484 00:32:35,510 --> 00:32:38,610 highlight certain issues before we discuss. So my 485 00:32:38,610 --> 00:32:41,230 mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun. This 486 00:32:41,230 --> 00:32:43,670 could be the opening like "Shall I compare thee to 487 00:32:43,670 --> 00:32:46,010 a summer's day?" So my mistress' eyes are nothing 488 00:32:46,010 --> 00:32:48,870 like the sun. Her eyes are even more beautiful. 489 00:32:50,210 --> 00:32:53,740 You know? But again, it goes against our 490 00:32:53,740 --> 00:32:57,920 expectation. Coral, you know coral, the Red Sea, 491 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:03,240 coral is far more red than her lips. And 492 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:09,590 grammatically we say "than her red lips." Some of 493 00:33:09,590 --> 00:33:12,330 you will claim that Shakespeare is doing this for 494 00:33:12,330 --> 00:33:14,430 the rhyme scheme. But again, this is Shakespeare. 495 00:33:14,530 --> 00:33:18,750 He could have said "red than her red lips." I 496 00:33:18,750 --> 00:33:22,510 don't know. And then he said here something "hips," 497 00:33:22,810 --> 00:33:25,680 you know. It would work, it would be fine, and 498 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:29,440 Shakira would find this funny because "hips don't 499 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:32,820 lie." So the coral here, so there's basically 500 00:33:32,820 --> 00:33:36,420 something with Shakespeare, some kind of changing 501 00:33:36,420 --> 00:33:40,220 the word order of the natural grammar. And again, 502 00:33:40,620 --> 00:33:43,280 this is why some, I hope that after reading these 503 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:44,840 two sentences, you will come closer to 504 00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:46,480 understanding Shakespeare. I know you are also doing Elizabethan 505 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:49,220 drama, you come closer to understanding more and 506 00:33:49,220 --> 00:33:52,300 more of Shakespeare. He does this, he plays with 507 00:33:52,300 --> 00:33:57,280 the syntax. Not only again, don't please just say 508 00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:00,780 for emphasis, don't just please say for the rhyme 509 00:34:00,780 --> 00:34:02,840 scheme because Shakespeare can make anything 510 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:07,060 rhyme. For God's sake, the man coined and made up 511 00:34:07,060 --> 00:34:11,080 like 2000 words. He can do anything here. So 512 00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:16,000 coral is far more red than her lips. Her lips 513 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:19,380 are not that red, especially compared to coral. If 514 00:34:19,380 --> 00:34:22,500 snow be white, and snow is white, why then her 515 00:34:22,500 --> 00:34:25,260 breasts are white? She isn't as white as snow. 516 00:34:25,400 --> 00:34:28,320 She's not white. And again, whiteness associated 517 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:32,480 with, classically, with beauty. She's brownish, 518 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:35,840 seemingly. If hairs, and I find this very funny, 519 00:34:36,200 --> 00:34:43,040 if hairs be wires, if hairs are wires, black 520 00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:47,750 wires grow on her head. And I don't know how you 521 00:34:47,750 --> 00:34:51,290 would react. I usually test little girls with 522 00:34:51,290 --> 00:34:54,050 this, and I tell her, like, "shaarek manfoush," or 523 00:34:54,050 --> 00:34:56,170 "shaarek silly jelly," or something like this. And 524 00:34:56,170 --> 00:35:00,290 even little girls wouldn't take this. They would 525 00:35:00,290 --> 00:35:02,430 find this offensive and insulting. 526 00:35:05,230 --> 00:35:10,670 Black wires grow on her head. I have seen roses 527 00:35:10,670 --> 00:35:15,300 damasked, red and white. But no such roses 528 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:17,480 are seen. You know, beautiful person, a beautiful woman, you 529 00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:21,000 just liken her cheeks to white roses, pink roses, 530 00:35:21,180 --> 00:35:23,480 red roses. But here he's saying, but no such 531 00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:27,180 roses, see I in her cheeks. And again, I think there 532 00:35:27,180 --> 00:35:28,920 is here a pattern. Shakespeare is creating a 533 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:32,860 pattern. He's not only like this, you know, 534 00:35:33,400 --> 00:35:36,600 diverting, subverting our expectations. He's also 535 00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:42,580 changing the word order; "lips red," changing the order of things in 536 00:35:42,580 --> 00:35:46,470 her cheeks. And in some perfumes is there more 537 00:35:46,470 --> 00:35:49,310 delight than in the breath that from my mistress 538 00:35:49,310 --> 00:35:53,490 reeks. This could mean she stinks, but it just 539 00:35:53,490 --> 00:35:58,270 could mean she has a natural human breath. Not 540 00:35:58,270 --> 00:36:02,730 necessarily somebody who has eaten a huge chunk of 541 00:36:02,730 --> 00:36:08,310 an onion. But "reeks" is also not a compliment. You 542 00:36:08,310 --> 00:36:12,710 stink. But again, I don't want to take "reek" as 543 00:36:12,710 --> 00:36:17,410 just meaning stink. Although it could be. I love 544 00:36:17,410 --> 00:36:21,630 to hear her speak, yet well I know. And I think 545 00:36:21,630 --> 00:36:24,130 here, "well I know" is grammatically correct. But the 546 00:36:24,130 --> 00:36:29,030 more natural word order would be, "I know well." So 547 00:36:29,030 --> 00:36:32,710 is there a pattern of changing things? That music 548 00:36:32,710 --> 00:36:36,660 hath a far more pleasing sound. I grant I never saw 549 00:36:36,660 --> 00:36:40,200 a goddess go. Like beautiful women, you know, 550 00:36:40,320 --> 00:36:43,400 described usually as goddesses, as angels that 551 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:46,120 don't walk, don't touch the ground. They just 552 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:50,660 float, they glow, they glide. I never saw a 553 00:36:50,660 --> 00:36:55,280 goddess go. My mistress, when she walks, however, 554 00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:58,120 when she walks, treads upon the ground. She's 555 00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:00,280 like any other human being. She walks on the 556 00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:05,510 ground. And again, so far, this is interesting. 557 00:37:06,810 --> 00:37:11,230 It's just one unit highlighting 558 00:37:11,230 --> 00:37:14,090 the imperfections, the flaws, so to speak. 559 00:37:15,370 --> 00:37:18,330 Although I don't agree that there should be fixed 560 00:37:18,330 --> 00:37:22,470 standards of beauty or what makes beauty. And then 561 00:37:22,470 --> 00:37:27,270 yet, by heaven, by God, wa rabbi al-sama, he's 562 00:37:27,270 --> 00:37:30,220 swearing here. And again, I said this in another 563 00:37:30,220 --> 00:37:33,000 class, and one student said that Shakespeare was a 564 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,260 religious man. He was, I don't think Shakespeare 565 00:37:35,260 --> 00:37:37,340 was a religious man. I think that Shakespeare was 566 00:37:37,340 --> 00:37:41,400 not only that, but he was deliberately and 567 00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:44,480 consciously distancing himself from religion and 568 00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:47,080 from, I understand that "God" is one syllable in 569 00:37:47,080 --> 00:37:50,920 heaven too. But you'll be surprised, you will of 570 00:37:50,920 --> 00:37:54,100 course necessarily find influences of the Bible, 571 00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:56,320 of Christianity in Shakespeare, but you will be 572 00:37:56,320 --> 00:37:59,220 amazed at how sometimes you feel that 573 00:37:59,220 --> 00:38:01,520 Shakespeare's consciously trying to distance 574 00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:05,360 himself and detach himself from Christianity. Look 575 00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:09,340 at his stories, for example. None of his plays is 576 00:38:09,340 --> 00:38:13,940 based on a biblical story, right? And yet, by 577 00:38:13,940 --> 00:38:17,900 heaven, I think my love as rare as any she 578 00:38:17,900 --> 00:38:22,580 belied with false comparisons. It's like, I want you 579 00:38:22,580 --> 00:38:25,910 to do this experiment: go to your 580 00:38:25,910 --> 00:38:28,610 friend, any of your friends, and tell her for 581 00:38:28,610 --> 00:38:31,770 example, "I know you are not punctual, 582 00:38:31,770 --> 00:38:35,390 you're a liar, you're lazy, you're a huge eater, you 583 00:38:35,390 --> 00:38:38,090 don't like pizza," and count like 30 584 00:38:38,090 --> 00:38:42,730 things, and then "but I like you." That's devastating 585 00:38:42,730 --> 00:38:49,010 because you're listing all the horrible things in the 586 00:38:49,010 --> 00:38:49,210 world. 587 00:38:52,630 --> 00:38:57,310 Imperfections. Okay, everybody is imperfect, but if 588 00:38:57,310 --> 00:39:01,790 you are talking to me like, "Why are you just digging 589 00:39:01,790 --> 00:39:04,610 excavating even for things that people 590 00:39:04,610 --> 00:39:07,650 don't know?" And we see this all the time, like in 591 00:39:07,650 --> 00:39:10,490 comic shows, like how people try to compliment 592 00:39:10,490 --> 00:39:14,050 somebody: "Okay, say that he's not 593 00:39:14,050 --> 00:39:16,810 punctual, sometimes he's late, he likes pizza too 594 00:39:16,810 --> 00:39:20,390 much, but he's a really good something." But if 595 00:39:20,390 --> 00:39:25,190 you count like a hundred flaws, you're making me 596 00:39:25,190 --> 00:39:29,250 feel unacceptable in any situation. So I'll ask you a 597 00:39:29,250 --> 00:39:32,290 couple of questions. Number one, what do you think 598 00:39:32,290 --> 00:39:34,270 of the tone? Do you take this as a serious poem? 599 00:39:34,750 --> 00:39:39,830 And how would you react to this as a woman? Or how 600 00:39:39,830 --> 00:39:41,910 would you react to this poem as a woman? And then the 601 00:39:41,910 --> 00:39:44,290 second question, do you think that the tone is 602 00:39:44,290 --> 00:39:47,610 serious or comic or light? Is this a lighthearted, 603 00:39:47,750 --> 00:39:48,050 you know? 604 00:39:50,870 --> 00:39:53,590 Please. Well, first of all, when I first read it, 605 00:39:53,650 --> 00:39:55,710 I was really shocked. I didn't really understand 606 00:39:55,710 --> 00:39:58,250 the concept, the whole concept of it. And then I 607 00:39:58,250 --> 00:40:01,010 realized that he's actually, maybe, describing 608 00:40:01,010 --> 00:40:04,650 a very ordinary lady. Like I think that if I could 609 00:40:04,650 --> 00:40:07,930 draw this person or this lady, I would, I would 610 00:40:07,930 --> 00:40:09,970 see her as a normal person. Not a stick drawing, of 611 00:40:09,970 --> 00:40:15,460 course. Okay, it's my thing too, by the way. So the 612 00:40:15,460 --> 00:40:17,920 thing is that he's really describing an ordinary 613 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:20,780 lady, but it's somehow offensive. Like you're 614 00:40:20,780 --> 00:40:23,540 writing poetry and poetry or sonnets are supposed 615 00:40:23,540 --> 00:40:26,160 to be about love and appreciation. So why are you 616 00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:28,560 doing this? So I think this is why I wouldn't take 617 00:40:28,560 --> 00:40:31,660 it for, I wouldn't take it as a real poem. I would 618 00:40:31,660 --> 00:40:34,300 take it more as a, maybe like a parody or something 619 00:40:34,300 --> 00:40:39,060 like that, as comic. So this is a comic poem more than a 620 00:40:39,060 --> 00:40:43,220 serious poem. Like, well, I come back to the point 621 00:40:43,220 --> 00:40:47,580 here. I think we have, like you're saying, I don't 622 00:40:47,580 --> 00:40:50,080 want to take it as a serious poem. I'll take it as 623 00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:52,580 a comic or a parody. We'll come back to this point 624 00:40:52,580 --> 00:40:54,860 because there's a misunderstanding about what 625 00:40:54,860 --> 00:40:55,800 parody is, please. 626 00:41:16,450 --> 00:41:23,410 So unfunny? He's not, this is unfunny. Okay, good. 627 00:41:24,890 --> 00:41:29,490 Listen, you know I like Shakespeare, you can trash 628 00:41:29,490 --> 00:41:33,330 him, I'm not going to judge you, so feel free. For 629 00:41:33,330 --> 00:41:35,450 me actually, I really liked him for many reasons. 630 00:41:35,730 --> 00:41:40,330 First, I think Shakespeare was trying to usher in a 631 00:41:40,330 --> 00:41:43,950 new era for his poets, so he was making a… To try, 632 00:41:44,190 --> 00:41:44,510 sorry, a new…? 633 00:41:58,380 --> 00: 667 00:44:36,800 --> 00:44:42,620 changing. I never looked at data from this. Why 668 00:44:42,620 --> 00:44:46,580 didn't he get tired at sonnet, for example, 140 or 669 00:44:46,580 --> 00:44:51,480 50? But yeah, I take your point. By the way, some 670 00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:54,480 people might find it also, listen, some people 671 00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:57,200 believe that this order of the sonnets is not 672 00:44:57,200 --> 00:45:00,020 probably the right order that Shakespeare wrote 673 00:45:00,020 --> 00:45:04,010 them in. But that is an interesting point, like 674 00:45:04,010 --> 00:45:06,710 it's time for change. It's time for change, 675 00:45:06,770 --> 00:45:08,970 please. I think we should also look at the role of 676 00:45:08,970 --> 00:45:11,690 the woman which led him to write this, because 677 00:45:11,690 --> 00:45:15,070 it's maybe she was obsessed about perfection and 678 00:45:15,070 --> 00:45:17,950 he's convincing her. He's destroying her, he's 679 00:45:17,950 --> 00:45:23,310 bringing her down. No, he's convincing her that he 680 00:45:23,310 --> 00:45:25,770 doesn't care about these things and she's perfect. 681 00:45:26,710 --> 00:45:28,770 He's perfect the way she is. She doesn't have to 682 00:45:28,770 --> 00:45:31,910 be obsessed with, you know, filters and Snapchat 683 00:45:31,910 --> 00:45:38,310 filters and dog filter and please. I think that 684 00:45:38,310 --> 00:45:41,230 it's offensive for him. It's like he's grudging 685 00:45:41,230 --> 00:45:45,830 her his love even though she is not like the 686 00:45:45,830 --> 00:45:52,130 perfect woman in Poland. But what about his own 687 00:45:52,130 --> 00:45:53,050 appearance? 688 00:45:55,930 --> 00:46:00,670 But what 689 00:46:00,670 --> 00:46:03,770 I notice is that you totally agree that these are 690 00:46:03,770 --> 00:46:05,950 shortcomings. Are they? 691 00:46:09,490 --> 00:46:13,550 Somebody doesn't have fair hair, should they kill 692 00:46:13,550 --> 00:46:13,910 themselves? 693 00:46:18,590 --> 00:46:20,910 Because of, yeah, the traditional standards of 694 00:46:20,910 --> 00:46:24,350 beauty at that time, white, fair hair, possibly 695 00:46:24,350 --> 00:46:31,770 red lips, white skin, et cetera, et cetera. So is 696 00:46:31,770 --> 00:46:34,970 Shakespeare trying to, again, criticize and attack 697 00:46:34,970 --> 00:46:39,190 these standards of beauty rather than trashing the 698 00:46:39,190 --> 00:46:43,390 woman? I said maybe that I would like a friend to 699 00:46:43,390 --> 00:46:46,750 tell me about that they respect me despite my 700 00:46:46,750 --> 00:46:52,070 shortcomings. But I wouldn't like a lover to 701 00:46:52,070 --> 00:46:54,130 describe me that way, but at the same time, I 702 00:46:54,130 --> 00:46:57,890 don't find it that offensive, you know? Okay, it's 703 00:46:57,890 --> 00:47:03,770 not completely like a good poem, but it's not 704 00:47:03,770 --> 00:47:07,130 really that offensive as the girls are describing 705 00:47:07,130 --> 00:47:10,850 it. Who thinks it is offensive? Oh, that's very 706 00:47:10,850 --> 00:47:15,210 few of you who thinks it's not offensive. That's 707 00:47:15,210 --> 00:47:18,670 also very few of you. So there are many neutrals 708 00:47:18,670 --> 00:47:25,450 here. Okay, please. Offensive or not? Offensive, I 709 00:47:25,450 --> 00:47:27,790 think, but I have another opinion. I think he 710 00:47:27,790 --> 00:47:31,110 loves her, but because he wasn't able to reach 711 00:47:31,110 --> 00:47:34,630 her, he said all these imperfections to console 712 00:47:34,630 --> 00:47:39,530 himself, like not read as a coral. So is this 713 00:47:39,530 --> 00:47:43,530 about him too consoling himself? Yeah, because he 714 00:47:43,530 --> 00:47:45,690 loves her and he didn't ever torture her. Please. 715 00:47:46,050 --> 00:47:48,890 Who said all these things are imperfections? None 716 00:47:48,890 --> 00:47:53,350 of us has red cheeks, none of us has an eye like a 717 00:47:53,350 --> 00:47:59,010 sun. He's being 100% realistic. I don't think this 718 00:47:59,010 --> 00:48:04,670 is offensive. I think he's not framing her in a 719 00:48:04,670 --> 00:48:08,420 beauty frame or something. She's not a model, 720 00:48:08,900 --> 00:48:12,140 she's an average woman with these things, but 721 00:48:12,140 --> 00:48:17,080 again, do you think Shakespeare is trying to be 722 00:48:17,080 --> 00:48:20,980 realistic rather than offensive? Is he trying to 723 00:48:20,980 --> 00:48:22,000 be realistic? 724 00:48:25,680 --> 00:48:33,040 So offensive 725 00:48:33,040 --> 00:48:43,840 or realistic? Okay. The imaginary fictional 726 00:48:43,840 --> 00:48:44,520 beloved. 727 00:48:48,120 --> 00:48:52,060 This is very blunt. This is really very blunt. 728 00:48:55,420 --> 00:48:58,760 And you don't count like ten horrible devastating 729 00:48:58,760 --> 00:49:02,600 things. You just say one thing. Yeah, probably ten 730 00:49:02,600 --> 00:49:05,960 sonnets, one in each. But this is too much. 731 00:49:16,090 --> 00:49:22,030 Why don't, why wouldn't people love those? Aren't 732 00:49:22,030 --> 00:49:24,510 we doing the same thing? Aren't we committing the 733 00:49:24,510 --> 00:49:28,230 same horrible thing ourselves? So okay, let's 734 00:49:28,230 --> 00:49:32,110 again see here, there's this possibility that this 735 00:49:32,110 --> 00:49:36,620 poem is a parody. And what is parody we'll see in 736 00:49:36,620 --> 00:49:39,820 a bit, but can you just very quickly, what do you 737 00:49:39,820 --> 00:49:45,160 think what what's parody? Say again, okay, again 738 00:49:45,160 --> 00:49:52,960 you're also highlighting the comic element. Parody 739 00:49:52,960 --> 00:49:57,060 is imitation, an imitation of another literary text, 740 00:49:57,060 --> 00:50:01,520 another genre, another poet, basically in a comic 741 00:50:01,520 --> 00:50:05,980 way, so this could sound light and comic and funny 742 00:50:05,980 --> 00:50:08,500 or an attempt at being funny. 743 00:50:12,360 --> 00:50:16,040 Meaning we can take this as Shakespeare trying to 744 00:50:16,040 --> 00:50:22,420 criticize the way women were perceived, the way 745 00:50:22,420 --> 00:50:24,580 sonnets were written, the way women were 746 00:50:24,580 --> 00:50:27,570 represented. Perhaps Shakespeare is criticizing 747 00:50:27,570 --> 00:50:32,550 the mainstream standards of beauty at that time, 748 00:50:32,670 --> 00:50:35,090 that a woman to be appreciated, a woman has to 749 00:50:35,090 --> 00:50:39,330 have all these things. But some people might not 750 00:50:39,330 --> 00:50:42,170 like this because they also feel that Shakespeare 751 00:50:42,170 --> 00:50:46,010 himself is falling for the same thing. He's also, 752 00:50:46,230 --> 00:50:50,030 because he's indicating that, he's saying, you 753 00:50:50,030 --> 00:50:51,990 don't have these things, but I love you. He's not 754 00:50:51,990 --> 00:50:55,830 saying these are not, in a way, these are not the 755 00:50:55,830 --> 00:50:58,050 real standards of beauty and beauty is relative 756 00:50:58,050 --> 00:51:01,490 and everybody, you know, can see beauty in the 757 00:51:01,490 --> 00:51:05,970 things they love. He's not saying this. He's 758 00:51:05,970 --> 00:51:08,510 saying you don't have these standards of beauty, 759 00:51:09,330 --> 00:51:17,930 but and not only but, yet. I swear to God, by God, 760 00:51:18,010 --> 00:51:23,690 by heaven, I like you. I love you. And I think you 761 00:51:23,690 --> 00:51:27,110 are rare. And there could be an implication here. 762 00:51:27,410 --> 00:51:30,250 Shakespeare doesn't highlight the character of 763 00:51:30,250 --> 00:51:35,150 this woman. But rare here, when he says like 764 00:51:35,150 --> 00:51:38,970 physically, she's not that beautiful, probably 765 00:51:38,970 --> 00:51:42,750 he's here, she's rare because of her mind and her 766 00:51:42,750 --> 00:51:46,310 personality. But it's not clearly stated here. 767 00:51:46,450 --> 00:51:51,570 Could be implied because she is rare. Her love is 768 00:51:51,570 --> 00:51:56,210 rare. As any, she belied with false compare. She 769 00:51:56,210 --> 00:51:58,870 can't be compared to false things. These things 770 00:51:58,870 --> 00:52:03,050 are false, like you said. Who has eyes like the 771 00:52:03,050 --> 00:52:05,850 sun? But again, this is positive. This is 772 00:52:05,850 --> 00:52:11,390 metaphorically speaking. Now, the point I want to 773 00:52:11,390 --> 00:52:17,310 make about this sonnet being a parody, actually 774 00:52:17,310 --> 00:52:20,640 this is why I'm we're discussing this poem, 775 00:52:21,100 --> 00:52:23,960 basically for this parody part. And don't forget 776 00:52:23,960 --> 00:52:28,340 that Shakespeare himself used some of these beauty 777 00:52:28,340 --> 00:52:33,920 standards to frame women, making this text also 778 00:52:33,920 --> 00:52:34,920 self-parody. 779 00:52:37,800 --> 00:52:39,880 So is Shakespeare mocking himself, making fun of 780 00:52:39,880 --> 00:52:42,480 himself? Wow, he must have been very confident. 781 00:52:43,400 --> 00:52:45,340 He's writing something and he's also parodying 782 00:52:45,340 --> 00:52:46,840 himself, making fun of himself. He doesn't wait 783 00:52:46,840 --> 00:52:51,700 for others to mock him. He's mocking himself. But 784 00:52:51,700 --> 00:52:54,800 also mocking what we call courtly love. 785 00:52:58,220 --> 00:53:02,520 Traditional courtly love, the way it was, the way 786 00:53:02,520 --> 00:53:05,400 women were perceived and represented in this kind 787 00:53:05,400 --> 00:53:11,420 of love. And yes, parody can be comic and funny, 788 00:53:11,700 --> 00:53:15,200 sarcastic sometimes. We'll see in John Donne how 789 00:53:15,200 --> 00:53:20,840 parody can be also a very serious genre. Extremely 790 00:53:20,840 --> 00:53:24,840 serious. Not only about the message, it's just, it 791 00:53:24,840 --> 00:53:27,480 destroys. Nowadays we see the comedy shows. Look 792 00:53:27,480 --> 00:53:32,120 at the American politics. Every night you have 793 00:53:32,120 --> 00:53:37,760 like so many comedy shows. The news is now comic, 794 00:53:37,760 --> 00:53:44,320 because comedy, parody, these genres, they number 795 00:53:44,320 --> 00:53:47,020 one, draw our attention to the fact that there is 796 00:53:47,020 --> 00:53:49,460 an alternative, there is a possibility of another 797 00:53:49,460 --> 00:53:52,060 reality, that this reality is not fixed, that you 798 00:53:52,060 --> 00:53:55,140 can change it. I'm showing you in my poetry, in 799 00:53:55,140 --> 00:54:00,240 my stand-up comedy. So what Shakespeare is doing 800 00:54:00,240 --> 00:54:04,000 is basically he is shattering, he is destroying 801 00:54:04,000 --> 00:54:10,160 the mainstream standards and frames of beauty. He's 802 00:54:10,160 --> 00:54:13,440 showing women and people that there are other 803 00:54:13,440 --> 00:54:15,660 alternatives, that there are other possibilities. 804 00:54:16,660 --> 00:54:21,040 He's inviting us by subverting, by turning the 805 00:54:21,040 --> 00:54:27,960 standards of beauty upside down, giving us another 806 00:54:27,960 --> 00:54:31,340 worldview that people probably didn't think of, 807 00:54:31,840 --> 00:54:37,240 outside probably poetry maybe. So that's why I 808 00:54:37,240 --> 00:54:40,720 take this as a serious, it sounds lighthearted, 809 00:54:41,260 --> 00:54:44,300 but if you examine it from a parody point of view, 810 00:54:44,600 --> 00:54:47,620 it sounds very serious. It sounds again like 811 00:54:47,620 --> 00:54:50,480 Shakespeare himself, who is doing the same thing, 812 00:54:50,520 --> 00:54:57,130 is trying to protest, or at least, attract women's 813 00:54:57,130 --> 00:54:58,790 attention to the fact that there are other 814 00:54:58,790 --> 00:55:01,110 possibilities, that you shouldn't be taking these 815 00:55:01,110 --> 00:55:04,010 frames for granted. You can change them. And 816 00:55:04,010 --> 00:55:07,590 that's why I highlighted these things: lips red, 817 00:55:08,090 --> 00:55:11,930 see eye, will I know, and again, how the poem came 818 00:55:11,930 --> 00:55:17,090 against our expectation. I think this subversion 819 00:55:17,090 --> 00:55:20,730 here, this change of the order, is an invitation 820 00:55:20,730 --> 00:55:24,680 that the existing order in the society, the social 821 00:55:24,680 --> 00:55:29,860 constructions of women, of beauty can be changed. 822 00:55:31,020 --> 00:55:34,600 And I also like how he used the word compare as a 823 00:55:34,600 --> 00:55:38,820 noun at the end. It should be with false 824 00:55:38,820 --> 00:55:43,280 comparison. I know compare can be used as a noun, 825 00:55:43,920 --> 00:55:47,720 but not a very common usage. I checked the Merriam 826 00:55:47,720 --> 00:55:50,080 -Webster for the etymology of the word and it 827 00:55:50,080 --> 00:55:52,100 says, and I find this very interesting, the first 828 00:55:52,100 --> 00:55:57,920 time it was used as a noun was 1589. 829 00:56:00,860 --> 00:56:04,400 Wow, that was like around the time Shakespeare was 830 00:56:04,400 --> 00:56:12,270 writing sonnets. So again, this is stretching, a 831 00:56:12,270 --> 00:56:14,990 lot of stretching, but did Shakespeare use the 832 00:56:14,990 --> 00:56:18,910 verb compare as a noun to indicate to women, to 833 00:56:18,910 --> 00:56:21,110 the audience, to readers that you can change 834 00:56:21,110 --> 00:56:23,490 things. You don't have to take things as they are. 835 00:56:23,750 --> 00:56:31,030 Here I am using verbs as nouns. Swapping the word 836 00:56:31,030 --> 00:56:34,090 order, using the noun before the adjective, and 837 00:56:34,090 --> 00:56:37,250 it's now your time to destroy again the given 838 00:56:37,250 --> 00:56:42,270 mainstream constructs of the society. Women don't 839 00:56:42,270 --> 00:56:44,930 have to be taken for granted. Women don't have to 840 00:56:44,930 --> 00:56:49,690 be taken in these frames imposed upon them by 841 00:56:49,690 --> 00:56:52,810 society and by men. This could be a lot of 842 00:56:52,810 --> 00:56:55,970 stretching. I want you to think of this in this 843 00:56:55,970 --> 00:56:58,650 slide as a parody. Shakespeare doing this stuff. 844 00:56:59,130 --> 00:56:59,330 Please. 845 00:57:15,010 --> 00:57:17,930 And again taking women for granted, for like even 846 00:57:17,930 --> 00:57:19,850 if the woman doesn't have these things you'd be 847 00:57:19,850 --> 00:57:23,130 like, you know, he would be tricked into a 848 00:57:23,130 --> 00:57:23,830 particular thing. 849 00:57:33,770 --> 00:57:37,930 But again, what is beauty? Don't forget this. What 850 00:57:37,930 --> 00:57:38,630 is beauty? 851 00:57:45,470 --> 00:57:47,290 No, but I'm saying that because this is a 852 00:57:47,290 --> 00:57:50,310 significant point. Beauty, there's nothing like, 853 00:57:50,790 --> 00:57:55,970 again, like in Arabic we say, and it's the same 854 00:57:55,970 --> 00:58:00,490 here. Like every woman sees her kid as the most 855 00:58:00,490 --> 00:58:05,930 beautiful kid. Not only because he or she is the 856 00:58:05,930 --> 00:58:11,390 kid, but because beauty is relative. It's not 857 00:58:11,390 --> 00:58:14,710 fixed. The standards are not fixed. The society 858 00:58:14,71 889 01:00:37,150 --> 01:00:42,150 serious, or there is nothing happening there. Look 890 01:00:42,150 --> 01:00:44,630 at these questions. I want you to think about them 891 01:00:44,630 --> 01:00:49,950 when you go home. We'll share; we can discuss some 892 01:00:49,950 --> 01:00:54,270 of them on our Facebook group. How can this be 893 01:00:54,270 --> 01:00:57,110 taken as a parody or self-parody? 894 01:01:00,210 --> 01:01:04,610 What does that tell us about Shakespeare? Again, this 895 01:01:04,610 --> 01:01:07,070 is like he's being a social critic and also a 896 01:01:07,070 --> 01:01:11,470 literary critic. See the point? He's being a 897 01:01:11,470 --> 01:01:14,610 literary critic. As if, again, he's saying that, 898 01:01:14,970 --> 01:01:18,470 stop doing this in your sonnets, come on. In his 899 01:01:18,470 --> 01:01:22,390 own way. He goes back to something else. How would 900 01:01:22,390 --> 01:01:24,830 a woman feel reading this? Would a woman feel 901 01:01:24,830 --> 01:01:27,110 comfortable, uncomfortable? And I like how you 902 01:01:27,110 --> 01:01:30,250 give me different opinions. Again, whatever 903 01:01:30,250 --> 01:01:33,370 opinion you believe in, just go for it, support it 904 01:01:33,370 --> 01:01:35,010 with textual evidence, and you're good to go. 905 01:01:36,130 --> 01:01:37,610 Where is the woman in the text? And this is the 906 01:01:37,610 --> 01:01:40,610 point I want to go back to. The huge difference 907 01:01:40,610 --> 01:01:42,530 between "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day," 908 01:01:42,530 --> 01:01:44,950 one of the major differences: "Shall I compare thee 909 01:01:44,950 --> 01:01:48,850 to a summer's day" and "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun"? 910 01:01:52,870 --> 01:01:57,630 "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" Say again? 911 01:02:00,410 --> 01:02:04,050 We don't have the woman here. 912 01:02:06,830 --> 01:02:08,850 Okay. What about this poem? 913 01:02:13,710 --> 01:02:17,970 What pronouns do you have here? 914 01:02:20,370 --> 01:02:26,370 Okay. What I feel is that in Sonnet 18, the woman is 915 01:02:26,370 --> 01:02:30,170 present. He's talking to her face. He's talking to 916 01:02:30,170 --> 01:02:37,310 her. "Shall I compare thee? Thou art" gives life to 917 01:02:37,310 --> 01:02:42,470 thee. Yes, she is silent or silenced. Probably 918 01:02:42,470 --> 01:02:45,150 Shakespeare is shushing her, like I'm shushing you 919 01:02:45,150 --> 01:02:49,250 now. But she is present because he's talking to 920 01:02:49,250 --> 01:02:51,890 her. Please, in any poem you read, look at the 921 01:02:51,890 --> 01:02:55,190 tenses, look at the pronouns. Try to locate and 922 01:02:55,190 --> 01:02:57,550 position the speaker and to examine who the 923 01:02:57,550 --> 01:03:01,750 addressee is. In Sonnet 18, the woman is there, at 924 01:03:01,750 --> 01:03:05,770 least fictionally speaking. In Sonnet 130, the 925 01:03:05,770 --> 01:03:09,210 woman is not there. She is absent and also silent 926 01:03:09,210 --> 01:03:13,670 or silenced. So he's using the third-person 927 01:03:13,670 --> 01:03:19,270 pronouns here: "she," "her eyes," "she," "she," "she." She's 928 01:03:19,270 --> 01:03:22,850 absent, and again, what does this...what does this say 929 01:03:22,850 --> 01:03:27,550 about the...the whole sonnet, like, you know, uh...uh...he 930 01:03:27,550 --> 01:03:30,630 he...he can't even stand in front of her and read 931 01:03:30,630 --> 01:03:33,610 the poem, recite the poem. Does he know that she's 932 01:03:33,610 --> 01:03:36,890 going to...I don't know...punch him if he says that 933 01:03:36,890 --> 01:03:39,310 this is offensive? He cares about her, and he does 934 01:03:39,310 --> 01:03:42,780 not want to say all these things to her face. But 935 01:03:42,780 --> 01:03:45,160 it's even worse if he's saying it behind her back, 936 01:03:45,320 --> 01:03:48,440 like, who's he saying this to? Her mother-in-law? 937 01:03:52,520 --> 01:03:56,340 I want you to think of this: why is the woman 938 01:03:56,340 --> 01:04:04,850 absent, totally absent? Okay, nice, nice. Where is 939 01:04:04,850 --> 01:04:07,830 the woman in the poem? Is that enough? I want you 940 01:04:07,830 --> 01:04:12,530 to try to see how the sonnet turns at the couplet 941 01:04:12,530 --> 01:04:15,850 there. I'll just go through this very quickly. We 942 01:04:15,850 --> 01:04:19,530 can comment on this online. So parody: Shakespeare 943 01:04:19,530 --> 01:04:24,990 here is turning traditional standards of beauty on 944 01:04:24,990 --> 01:04:29,670 their head. Not *in*, on their head. He's turning 945 01:04:29,670 --> 01:04:35,430 things upside down. Inside out, trying to change 946 01:04:35,430 --> 01:04:39,730 the social constructs. The beloved's imperfections 947 01:04:39,730 --> 01:04:43,130 here, rather than her perfections, are highlighted 948 01:04:43,130 --> 01:04:47,090 and emphasized. Idealistic love, it seems, like 949 01:04:47,090 --> 01:04:49,170 courtly love, is being mocked. 950 01:04:52,050 --> 01:04:55,690 which again breaks new ground. If Shakespeare is 951 01:04:55,690 --> 01:04:57,910 again assuming the role of a social critic and a 952 01:04:57,910 --> 01:04:59,970 literary critic, that is really interesting. Can 953 01:04:59,970 --> 01:05:03,490 we find more of this in Shakespeare? Because, by 954 01:05:03,490 --> 01:05:05,830 the way, if you go to *Hamlet*, Shakespeare always 955 01:05:05,830 --> 01:05:09,450 makes fun of himself because he was always accused 956 01:05:09,450 --> 01:05:14,130 of having these long monologues, boring speeches, 957 01:05:14,410 --> 01:05:16,910 et cetera. In *Hamlet*, you'll find many times 958 01:05:16,910 --> 01:05:19,670 Shakespeare making fun of himself as a 959 01:05:19,670 --> 01:05:23,230 playwright. So this is significant to me. Breaks 960 01:05:23,230 --> 01:05:25,570 new ground and allows people to reconsider the 961 01:05:25,570 --> 01:05:29,390 social constructs imposed upon them by offering a 962 01:05:29,390 --> 01:05:33,550 possibility, a new worldview. And this is parody, 963 01:05:34,050 --> 01:05:38,510 not always comic. We'll see this later on. So we 964 01:05:38,510 --> 01:05:41,370 go back to the sonnet, just to summarize in two 965 01:05:41,370 --> 01:05:45,750 minutes. Fourteen lines, love poem, Italy, 966 01:05:46,290 --> 01:05:48,790 Petrarch. You know, I was surprised that "Petrarch" 967 01:05:48,790 --> 01:05:51,970 doesn't end in a vowel, like almost all Italian 968 01:05:51,970 --> 01:05:55,390 words. And I assume that this man is originally, I 969 01:05:55,390 --> 01:05:59,250 don't know, an Arab, because it turns out that in 970 01:05:59,250 --> 01:06:03,490 Italian he is Petrarch. So still we go back to the 971 01:06:03,490 --> 01:06:08,010 beautiful Italian vowel at the end. And Dante, 972 01:06:08,170 --> 01:06:11,390 14th century; the sonnet migrated to England by, 973 01:06:11,590 --> 01:06:13,630 and it was brought by Henry Howard and Sir Thomas 974 01:06:13,630 --> 01:06:17,850 Wyatt in the 16th century. The Petrarchan, the 975 01:06:17,850 --> 01:06:20,910 Petrarchan sonnet, just as a reminder, has two 976 01:06:20,910 --> 01:06:24,510 parts: the octave, eight-line stanzas; the sextet, 977 01:06:24,690 --> 01:06:27,990 six-line stanzas; and the rhyme scheme here, we 978 01:06:27,990 --> 01:06:29,690 have the octave presenting the crisis, the 979 01:06:29,690 --> 01:06:34,970 dilemma, and the sextet trying to make sense of the 980 01:06:34,970 --> 01:06:40,990 world, present a closure or a resolution. With 981 01:06:40,990 --> 01:06:44,740 Shakespeare, however, a sonnet rhymes differently: A 982 01:06:44,740 --> 01:06:49,660 B A B C D C D E F E F G G. With Shakespeare, get to G G 983 01:06:49,660 --> 01:06:51,560 and you're fine. No G G, no Shakespeare. 984 01:06:52,380 --> 01:06:54,480 Shakespeare's sonnets consist of three quatrains 985 01:06:54,480 --> 01:06:58,360 and one couplet. Sometimes line nine is the volta 986 01:06:58,360 --> 01:07:00,960 or the twist, and sometimes the couplet itself is 987 01:07:00,960 --> 01:07:06,380 the twist. Ten syllables, five feet per line. 988 01:07:07,190 --> 01:07:12,170 Iambic pentameter like 95% of the time, or 90% of 989 01:07:12,170 --> 01:07:16,910 the time. The iambic pentameter is similar to the 990 01:07:16,910 --> 01:07:19,190 conversational tone of English, some people think. 991 01:07:19,290 --> 01:07:22,010 That's why almost 80% of English poetry—this is a 992 01:07:22,010 --> 01:07:25,470 number I just made up—is iambic pentameter. The 993 01:07:25,470 --> 01:07:28,510 sonnets usually develop an idea in each of the 994 01:07:28,510 --> 01:07:32,170 three quatrains, and then the rhyming couplet 995 01:07:32,170 --> 01:07:34,610 offers a closure or a resolution. 996 01:07:37,920 --> 01:07:40,020 There are so many themes in Shakespeare, and that's 997 01:07:40,020 --> 01:07:42,200 why Shakespeare not only experimented on the form 998 01:07:42,200 --> 01:07:45,740 and the rhyme scheme; he tried to expand the themes 999 01:07:45,740 --> 01:07:50,160 themselves, not only pure love, the woman, and how she 1000 01:07:50,160 --> 01:07:53,560 behaves and how she looks, to include time, 1001 01:07:53,740 --> 01:07:56,420 mortality, immortality, the transience of beauty, 1002 01:07:56,620 --> 01:07:59,020 the lawlessness of life, the destructiveness of nature, 1003 01:07:59,160 --> 01:08:02,300 the inevitability of death, the immortality of art, and 1004 01:08:02,300 --> 01:08:07,550 his poetry, which is really interesting. Going to 1005 01:08:07,550 --> 01:08:10,630 the form: the sonnet's form is rigid, and "rigid" not 1006 01:08:10,630 --> 01:08:13,690 in a negative way here, like it's very strict; 1007 01:08:13,850 --> 01:08:16,230 it's highly calculated, something that allows the 1008 01:08:16,230 --> 01:08:19,050 poet to focus his topic or her topic, of course. 1009 01:08:20,130 --> 01:08:23,370 Basically, the highly calculated structure brings 1010 01:08:23,370 --> 01:08:26,290 order to the disorder of life, tries to control 1011 01:08:26,290 --> 01:08:31,060 the uncontrollable. It says, next, sometimes the 1012 01:08:31,060 --> 01:08:34,060 neatness of the sonnet presents a stark contrast 1013 01:08:34,060 --> 01:08:37,000 to the harsh reality. It's neat; it's ordered; it's 1014 01:08:37,000 --> 01:08:41,920 organized, but reality is harsh and tough. So it 1015 01:08:41,920 --> 01:08:45,160 presents a stark contrast to the harsh reality of 1016 01:08:45,160 --> 01:08:48,180 life that does not conform to an ordered pattern. 1017 01:08:50,100 --> 01:08:55,380 honor beauty or respect genius. Life does not 1018 01:08:55,380 --> 01:08:59,480 conform to order. Life does not honor beauty. Life 1019 01:08:59,480 --> 01:09:01,680 does not respect genius. And that's why 1020 01:09:01,680 --> 01:09:04,920 Shakespeare is trying to confront this. I should 1021 01:09:04,920 --> 01:09:08,810 live forever. And he does, in his poetry. The form 1022 01:09:08,810 --> 01:09:13,170 requires compression of ideas in such a way where 1023 01:09:13,170 --> 01:09:17,150 the topic is highly intensified. And this is 1024 01:09:17,150 --> 01:09:24,470 finally what I wanted to say about the sonnet. We 1025 01:09:24,470 --> 01:09:27,450 will keep going back to the sonnet. I'll stop 1026 01:09:27,450 --> 01:09:31,610 here. Next class we have Christopher Marlowe's *The 1027 01:09:31,610 --> 01:09:34,550 Passionate Shepherd*. A very interesting poem. 1028 01:09:35,090 --> 01:09:37,510 We're still doing Renaissance poetry. Thank you. 1029 01:09:37,570 --> 01:09:41,250 If you have questions, please stay behind.