Shakespearean Sonnets: Discovering a New Resource!

As I was on the hunt for a good article or blog about Sonnet 116, I struggled to find something that related to the sonnet in a more focused way (rather than a sketchy misquote). While going through this process, as irritating as it is, I irritably gave up and, in a fit of desperation, I googled "Sonnet 116 analysis." To my surprise, I found this intriguing new website called schmoop.com.

Schmoop contains all kinds of interesting little factoids and information all divided up under subheadings. For instance, under Analysis (on the topic bar), they give several different subheadings, such as Symbols, Imagery and Wordplay,  Steaminess Rating, and Allusions.

Just glancing through, the style of writing is very much like someone who is speaking, and it's clearly geared towards a teenage group learning the elementals about Shakespeare. However, I felt like they made some good, worthwhile observations about the poem:

• "The marriage described in this poem is not a formal contract; rather, it is a "marriage of true minds," a phrase that suggests a deep understanding between two equals, rather than a mere legal bond."
•  "The poem’s central extended metaphor is the comparison of love to a star – specifically the North Star, which doesn’t ever change position in the night sky. This made it particularly important to sailors, who calculated the location of their ships based on the stars."
• They also talk about the conventions of Petrarchan sonnets (although they don't call them that) and the view of love in those poems. 
• In the theme section, the website writers list the themes and then give questions to spur the readers thinking about the poem. 

All in all, I feel like the website actually increased my understanding of Sonnet 116. They bring up the issue of true love in the poem which is basically the antithesis of my main focus. The main aspecto of true love is eternity, according to Shakespeare. I think what it comes down to is the way love can hit you in an instant, but it can also stay with you forever.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg Forum at BYU

Zuckerberg, taken by BYU News

As Dr. Burton suggested we do, I went to the interview in the Marriott Center last Friday in order to listen to Mark Zuckerberg talk about social media. Although it had little (if not, nothing) to do with Shakespeare, it was enlightening to hear him talk about Facebook becoming a digital platform for different digital applications.

I think this is important to our class's study of Shakespeare because so much social learning can be (and is) done through Facebook. Some of the most entertaining and interesting things about life I have learned from Facebook.

There have been numerous debates in the Communications 101 class that I TA for about whether Facebook will replace our current news sources. People in older generations look down on the current rising generation for their dependence on social media for news. But having a centralized location for all news sources is actually quite beneficial, especially considering it is a more likely place for a 20-year-old to spend their time.

Facebook can also be beneficial for news gathering. Many reporters have a separate work Facebook account where they can receive tips from people that associate with their beat. How much more timely can information be if you have a constant feed to it?

It is my hope that this interview will spark a lot of innovation coming from all quarters, not just Facebook, so that the current social media can be perfected.

Sock Puppets: Connecting With Shakespeare Creatively

In helping Janelle prepare for her Shakespearean puppet show this last Wednesday, I had an opportunity to reflect on how it helps to engage Shakespeare on a more creative level. I haven't done much of a creative so far this semester, at least as far as Shakespeare is concerned, so it was fun on that level. It was also fun because we had to pick and choose how all of our sock characters looked. It was interesting to see how different perceptions of characters showed in our interpretations of how the sock puppets should look.

For instance, I was in charge of making the Mercutio puppet (the scene we're performing is from Romeo and Juliet). I took considerable joy in making this particular puppet because Mercutio is such a comical, yet round character. I gave him a mustache and a sword belt, knowing his feisty nature. It just seemed to fit.

I know this doesn't go very deep, but it really fascinated me to see how I interpreted characters through their appearance. And when we were making sock puppets, which only retain a few humanoid characteristics, it was interesting to see which characteristics were consistent.

Love's Volatility in Shakespeare: A Recap of My Research

This is an important opportunity to take a look at what I have been able to accomplish while looking at how Shakespeare uses spontaneity and volatility in relationships in his plays. In my hub post, I give a pretty good overview of what I wanted to accomplish, but it may be that I need to rethink my direction.

My original main direction: How do characters have such quick changes in emotion and then manage to have successful relationships?

Ways I tried to answer the main question:

1. Othello As a Case Study- I talk about Othello's seeming change of emotion, and how that is actually not the case. Othello does not experience volatile love, because he still loves Desdemona when he kills her. His type of love can be considered "idolatrous" because his manifestation of love is the equivalent of worship.

Shakespeare's Own Romance

I thought it would be interesting to look into Shakespeare's love life, to see if I could find any connections to my focus of volatility in love and relationships.


I found a source located on Google Books about Shakespeare's personal life, called A Life of William Shakespeare by Sir Sidney Lee.

The book talks about some documents that suggest Shakespeare's wedding may have been something of a shotgun affair. I think the source is fairly trustworthy, as they back up their information with numerous primary and secondary sources.

Macbeth the Movie: Where is the Love?

Courtesy of Netflix

I began watching the 2010 PBS version of Macbeth today, with the hope that my focus might shine through in some way. In the hour that I was able to watch (all I had time for today), I was sadly disappointed. Maybe this is what lends the play such a dreary, dark aspect. Of course, the movie did nothing to improve this feeling.

It has a World War II setting, although what side Macbeth fights for is pretty ambiguous. Duncan sort of resembles Hitler, so it's possible they are representing the German side. So far, everything has taken place in barracks made of cement with very little visual interest.

Some things I think the movie has done well so far:

• The setting is very bland and really forces the audience to pay attention completely to the actors. Yet it lends itself to visual interest and aesthetic when necessary.
• The witches were spot on. They don't have actual beards, but they were dressed as war nurses, so when they pulled their face masks down, they looked like beards. Their little satanic rituals were pretty realistic and unnerving. 
• It captures the raw violence of the play. I don't think they're overexaggerating this part, which is a little sickening.
• Lady Macbeth has the perfect amount of sex appeal and insanity. She's pretty but also skeletal looking. 
• The production design is very sparse, but they've done a good job. 
• I also recommend this movie to anyone doing sound. It's really interesting how they chose to do sound effects.

Some things not so good:

• Some parts are just a little too...creepy. For instance, the witches pull a heart out of a dead man's body to use for their ritual. Did not need to see that.
• The porter was a little too crude. Just not my cup of tea.

All in all, it has been interesting to look at, and I will do a deeper analysis when I finish the movie. 

My Game Plan for the Rest of the Semester

Looking at what I have left to do, it can be a little bit overwhelming trying to figure out when I will get it all done. I've found that I need to take stock every now and then of what my goals are, as well as plan some things out, if I want to be able to function at all.

1. So with that in mind, my goal for my research is to finish by the end of March. That means at least two of my posts each week need to be research focused, if not all three.
Some ideas for how to focus these posts:

• Follow up with Othello research
• Follow up on the sonnets with some research sources
• Use literary theory to analyze love in Twelfth Night or Richard III
• Research spontaneity in love/relationships
• Compare Shakespeare's relationship with Anne Hathaway to ideas expressed in plays

2. In addition to achieving this goal, I also have a goal to engage Shakespeare creatively through writing some sort of narrative about a more static Shakespearean character. I want to make a 2-dimensional character seem 3-dimensional. Hopefully I will get this done by March 25.

3. I also need to spend more time with digital mediations and performances of Shakespeare.

• I am planning on watching Macbeth the movie this weekend (PBS with Patrick Stewart) and writing a review about it.
• I also plan to attend the U of U performance of Macbeth. 
• Then I will compare the different formats. 

4. Lastly, I need to do a performance of my own. I might be part of Janelle's puppet show she's planning to put on next weekend. If that doesn't come through, I will probably recite a monologue for a small audience.

So that's my plan! Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Love is An Ever-fixed Mark: A Close Read of Sonnet 116

In my hub post, I mentioned that I wanted to take a closer love at the relationships immortalized in Shakespeare's sonnets. Sonnet 116 seems like an excellent choice, given that its emphasis is on constancy, as opposed to the aspect of volatility that I hope to make my focus.

Here is a video of Kate Winslet reciting the poem from Sense and Sensibility:

This poem has obviously been picked apart a million times (at least) due to its popularity, which is why I want to make this quick.

Othello as a Case Study: What Shakespeare Portrayed as Idolatrous Love

As I mentioned before in my hub post, I am looking at how volatile the romantic emotions can seem in Shakespeare. Othello is a perfect example of this. He and Desdemona have this whirlwind romance in which they defy the social constraints placed on them. But once they consummate their love, Othello is put in a position where he believes that the very thing he values most has betrayed him. This raises the question of whether he does indeed love "not wisely but too well."

In order to answer this question, it's important to analyze the ways in which Othello expresses love for Desdemona, as well as to analyze the relationship they had before suspicion poisoned it.
For this, I found two sources:

1. Shakespeare On Love and Lust, by Maurice Charney, which I found at Google Books. It focuses on ways love plays out in Shakespeare, and focuses a good part of that on Othello. 

2. Idolatrous Love: A New Approach to Othello, by RN Hallstead, which I found on JSTOR. This article focuses on the sexual aspects of Othello and how they relate to his love for Desdemona.

These sources speak about the obssessive nature of Othello's love for Desdemona, as well as Desdemona's love for Othello.

The Volatile Nature of Love in Shakespeare

Ever notice how Shakespeare's characters seem to experience pretty quick changes in emotion? One minute 2 characters hate each other, and the next they're living happily ever after. This is readily apparent in Much Ado About Nothing and Richard III. Or, they simply start as friends, but as soon as something in the situation changes, they're in love, like in Twelfth Night. The point is, can people's emotions really change as quickly as Shakespeare portrayed it? Or was he simply trying to make a point with this theme?

I also want to examine the volatility of love in Shakespeare's sonnets. Many of his sonnets talk of love that never ends: "It is an ever-fixed mark." It makes one wonder why there is such a disparity between his poems and plays. Does it come about because of different audiences, different ideas thematically?

For this, I have already found one source through Google books: A Companion to Shakespeare's Sonnets, by Michael Schoenfeldt. It contains an article by Jyotsna Singh called "Mapping the 'Emotional Regime' of Shakespeare's Sonnets." Having skimmed the article it seems to contain some valuable information about romantic love in the sonnets.

This is what I want to look at as I attempt to fulfill the depth requirement. So many of Shakespeare's plays include the genesis of romantic love in so many different forms. But so often, these relationships generate very quickly and can degenerate just as quickly. For instance, in Othello, all of the events leading up to Othello's marriage to Desdemona seem to move a pretty rapid pace, and the tables turn just as quickly when Othello discovers Desdemona's affair.

I'm hoping to gain some more variety in my sources throughout the weekend, so hopefully I will be able to focus my research on a few plays (any more than that would be too much) and a few sonnets.

Hermione the Heroine

I feel like the best way to read Winter's Tale Act 3, Scene 2 is to look at it through a feminist perspective. It is, after all, a husband trying his own wife for infidelity.

In a world where the king's word is law, even suspicions become truths in the eyes of King Leontes' audience. In lines 85 through 90, Leontes essentially assumes that the child borne by Hermione is the bastard child of Polixenes. He tells Hermione:

"thou shalt feel our justice, in whose easiest passage look for no less than death." 

Yet, how can it be justice when the suspicious husband, the accuser, is also the judge. Shakespeare does everything he can in this scene to ensure the audience is aligned with Hermione. Leontes comes across as so prejudiced and cruel, Hermione becomes a heroic figure.

By feminist standards, I think Hermione makes a pretty brave stand for herself. She makes a list of all of her grievances against Leontes. How he took away her new child, separated her from her son, withdrew his own affections, denied her bedrest after going through childbirth, and forcing her to go through the trial. This is a pretty considerable list. Not to mention that the heir to the throne dies during the trial. In fact, Hermione's suffering seems almost Christlike, which comparison carries over into her rebirth at the end of the play.

Once Hermione lists all of Leontes' "sins," she brings in her best defense, the oracle, which she knows will tell the truth. The message from Apollo's oracle is read, Hermione's side is supported. And, in true manly fashion, Leontes dismisses it because it doesn't support his argument. This can be viewed as an example of how fruitless the defences are that women put up in society. In the end, the man is still in control, after everything. That may be a little cynical, but it is pretty obvious that Leontes' authority stems from his masculinity and Hermione's situation stems from her vulnerability as a woman.

Paulina is probably the original Shakespearean feminist character. She tells how it is, even to the king, which puts her outside of society's control.
This is what she tells the king after the queen has "died":

"...Thy tyranny
Together working with thy jealousies--
Fancies too weak for boys, too green and idle
For girls of nine--oh, think what they have done,
And then run mad indeed, stark mad!..."

 She accuses the king of being tyrannical, jealous, weak, idle and mad. However, later on she realizes that she has spoken out of place and begs pardon, revealing that even Paulina is subject to the king's masculinity. But Leontes absolves her (as he didn't absolve his wife) and urges her to continue speaking bitterly, since he deserves it.

A feminist would say that King Leontes deserved every bit of what he got, and that Shakespeare was too kind to him at the end. But since I am not personally that extreme, I would have to say that this scene is an excellent example of the consequences of male follies and jealousies that are a natural result of women's subservience in this era. Clearly, Leontes' biggest threat to his power is a woman who appears to treat his authority as irrelevant.