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Comparing Shakespeare's sonnets
Comparing Shakespeare's sonnets
Do the sonnets express a love for
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Love
Anyone who has been in love, especially if the love object is scornful or infidelitous, has been able to turn to any station and say “every pop song on the radio is suddenly speaking to me,” as Ani DiFranco sings in her song “Superhero”. 1 Petrarchan love sonnets, the antiquated predecessors of the modern “pop love song”, depict love with some sense of perfection, sweetness, and chastity, with the beautiful, infallible blonde as the love object, however both with a sense of unattainability. Shakespeare’s later sonnets, 127-152, dealing with the “dark lady”, the antithesis of the Petrarchan model of love, however, may be a more accurate predecessor, nearly all dealing with the torments and imperfections of love and its source, after its having been attained. Sonnets 141-142 are a pinnacle of the later part of the sequence, summarizing the emotions and the object depicted in the other sonnets.
The first quatrain of sonnet 141 describes love as being immune to physical deficiency, yet pulled in by these same impurities. As described by the psychologist character played by Robin Williams in the film “Good Will Hunting”, it is the little quirks and imperfections one becomes attached to.2 As stated in sonnet 141, often in love one may feel as if they might not “love [someone] with [one’s] eyes/ for they in [them] see a thousand errors note.” (141.1-2) Often a lover finds physical faults with the desired one in an attempt to check their own emotions. Here, the narrator sees the faults, but discards that sense in his emotion. Other sonnets lead up to or echo this conclusion. To elaborate on this neglect of surface appearance, a lover may wonder, along with the narrator in sonnet 139, “Thou blind fool love, what dost ...
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...maxims and clichés echoing Shakespeare’s words are still spoken of today, the “little quirks”, the faults in appearance one may find in the other, the powerlessness of love, the love as a “plague”, the fine line between amity and enmity, the intentional ignorance of wrongdoings, the karmic cycle, and most importantly, the masochism. Sonnets 141 and 142 bring this all together, describing the love itself, the captivity, the pain, the love/hate, and the vengeance that comes with rejection, and can be used as a summation of the sonnets of the later part of the sequence of the “dark lady”.
1. Ani DiFranco. Dilate. Righteous Babe, 1996.
2. Good Will Hunting. Dir. Gus Van Sant. Perf. Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck,
and Minnie Driver. Mirimax, 1997
3. The Norton Shakespeare. Ed. Stephen Greenblatt. New York: Oxford University Press,
1997
History accounts for most of what our world is made up of today and to this day we have grown from what has occurred in the past. Back in 80 CE, a monumental amphitheater was created, in Rome. This amphitheater was to act as an entertainment hub where people would watch all kinds of games and sports. It was the Roman Empire’s central stage for gladiatorial combats and the wild beast hunts. It was ultimately meant to distract and socially control the public. In this paper, many aspects of this great amphitheater will be discussed. Some of items include historical/cultural aspects, aesthetic philosophy, period genres, stylistic traits and technical terms, biographical information and specific compositions. These aspects will be separated into 6 parts and thoroughly discussed.
It's just as grand as the photos made it seem. I get even more excited, today is going to be awesome. I am going to be the experienced traveller back home. I was going to have some epic photos to post on Instagram. Inside the Colosseum it's cool. The spirits of defeated gladiators wrapping around my ankles, curious of the 21st-century intruder. The stairs are worn out and sink in the centre, a hand rail has been attached so that visitors don't fall down them to their death. As I walk into the audience area and look down at the old arena I feel like Julius Caesar. I can imagine the thunderous roar of thousands of spectators all cheering for either the lion or gladiator. The arena has given way to the underground tunnels and rooms that the fighters and animals were kept in. They are so deep I can barely see the bottom. The stones that formed the walls of the tunnels are covered in a lush looking green moss. As I begin to wander around the edge of the arena the warm Italian sun is shining down warming me to my core and lighting up all the little pockets of history. The sound in the colosseum is eery, there is almost no sound. I can hear my own heartbeat and I try not to make a sound like I might disturb the history. I run my hand along the old stone work taking in the glory of the Roman empire. The stones feel smooth, worn down by thousands of years of the elements and
The Colosseum is an important part of ancient Roman history. The amphitheater is a symbol of Roman culture. The Colosseum displayed the violence of Roman culture. This incredibly unique amphitheater dominated the city of Rome. It was one of the most innovative and complex structures during that time period. The vastness of this impressive building displayed the wealth and power of the Roman Empire to other empires and enemies of the Romans. The Colosseum was created for public entertainment purposes. Gladiator fights with prisoners of war and slaves, wild animal hunts, professional fights, and public executions all took place at the Colosseum. Sea battles, rarely performed at the Colosseum, involved flooding the arena with water and releasing sharks for gladiators to fight. The excitement and thrill of each event kept spectators coming back.
When he writes "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she, belied with false compare." (lines 13-14) in the final couplet, one responds with an enlightened appreciation, making them understand Shakespeare's message that true love consists of something deeper than physical beauty. Shakespeare expresses his ideas in a wonderful fashion. Not only does he express himself through direct interpretation of his sonnet, but also through the levels at which he styled and produced it. One cannot help but appreciate his message of true love over lust, along with his creative criticism of Petrarchan sonnets.
Have you ever wondered why the colosseum was so popular? Well today is the day you are going to find out. You will find why the Romans made the colosseum and “why” it was so entertaining. “Also,” you will see Why the romans did the games. So if you are interested in Rome. Read this essay.
Shakespeare’s sonnet 130 is a sonnet much different than the normal love sonnets of that time. A well-known re-occurring them in Shakespeare’s sonnets is love. Shakespeare’s sonnet 130 can be interpreted many different ways. Sonnet 130 describes what love is to Shakespeare by making the poem a joke in order to mock other poets. In sonnet 130, Shakespeare spoke of a courtly love. Shakespeare goes against the usual style of courtly love writing in this sonnet. “In comparison to Petrarch’s Sonnet 90 and Shakespeare’s own Sonnets 18 and 20, Sonnet 130 is a parody of courtly love, favoring a pastoral love that is austere in its declaration, yet deep-rooted in sincerity” (Dr. Tilla Slabbert 1). Sonnet 130 mocks the men who use the traditional
The Colosseum doesn’t portray anything like a normal amphitheater. According to Lesley Dutemple “It was built nearly two thousand years ago for the purpose of hosting violent gladiator games.” These games were held during special celebrations with the start of the celebration being a parade through Rome with the gladiators followed by elephants. Once the rowdy crowds of people made their way into the Colosseum the opening act would be either the worst criminals from across the empire against food deprived and tortured beast. If it wasn’t convicts it would be newer gladiators against the savage beast, gather from across the empire. The beast where the most feared and deadliest animals from Africa to England and as far out as present day Turkey. These animals were maddened from starvation and thirst that they would hunt and kill anything that moved. If the beast did not hunt and put on a show, then the Beastmaster was brought out to the center of the arena and was publicly executed. Now the main event consisted of gladiator fights. Those chosen to become gladiators were one of three backgrounds. A gladiator could have been a free man looking for weapon training and fame within the arena. Another could have been an Ex Roman soldier. Lastly the gladiator could have been a slave from the outer reaches of the empire that was bought by the head of a gladiator school. Each gladiator could take up one of
William Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130”, was published in the mid-1590, and published with the rest of Shakespeare’s sonnets in 1609. The sonnet has fourteen lines, and divided into three quatrains and one couplet at the end. The rhyme scheme is cross rhyme, with the last two lines being couplets that rhyme. The sonnet compares between nature and the poets’ lover or mistress. He shows a more realistic view of his lover. Needless to say his significant other wasn’t physically attractive, yet he loved her inside beauty. Today we may use the term, “It’s not all about looks, but what’s inside”.
In his "Sonnet 130," William Shakespeare presents an uncommon variation on the staple Elizabethan era love poem. While sonnets on the subject of love typically presented a problem which would be solved through the poet 's skills of rhetoric, in "Sonnet 130" Shakespeare creates a unique satirical love poem which eschews the common idealistic comparisons on a woman 's beauty in favor of a photographic accuracy. The poem 's final rhyming couplet makes it clear that the author 's intentions are to depict realistic and not idealistic beauty. While it would be a basic interpretation to read the "mistress" in the sonnet as the author 's lover, a closer analysis reveals a more unorthodox possibility. Instead of interpreting the sonnet as a standard
This sonnet is an anti-love poem that ironically shows how the fairness of a lady is contingent upon nature's blessings and her external manifestations. The Spenserian style brings unity to this sonnet, in that it's theme and rhyme is interwoven throughout, but the focus of her "fairness" is divided into an octave and a sestet. The first eight lines praise her physical features (hair, cheeks, smile), while the last six lines praise her internal features (words, spirit, heart). This sonnet intentionally hides the speaker's ridicule behind counterfeit love-language, using phrases like: "fair golden hairs" (line 1), and "rose in her red cheeks" (line 3), and "her eyes the fire of love does spark" (line 4). This traditional love language fills pages of literature and song, and has conventionally been used to praise the attributes of a lover; but this sonnet betrays such language by exhibiting a critique rather than commendation. This sonnet appears to praise the beauty of a lady but ironically ridicules her by declaring that her "fairness" is contingent upon nature, physical features, and displaying a gentle spirit, which hides her pride.
Rome is a great place to visit with many places that have great historical significance and are still around today. In an interview with an experienced traveler of Rome, Mrs. Julie Vankat, she named her top three places to visit while there, two more educational sights since she is a teacher, and one sight that is still educational but the students insist upon seeing. One place to note in Rome is the Colosseum (Vankat). According to Adele Evans in DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Rome, the Colosseum in Rome was a place where community events such as gladiator fights took place in its high times (15). In the time the colosseum’s high popularity gladiator fights were seen as social events like going to a movie or a musical in today’s society. Another book by Kim Kavin claims that the Colosseum was also commonly used ...
Through the form of sonnet, Shakespeare and Petrarch both address the subject of love, yet there are key contrasts in their style, structure, and in the manner, each approaches their subjects. Moreover, in "Sonnet 130," Shakespeare, in fact, parodies Petrarch's style and thoughts as his storyteller describes his mistress, whose "eyes are in no way as the sun" (Shakespeare 1918). Through his English poem, Shakespeare seems to mock the exaggerated descriptions expanded throughout Petrarch’s work by portraying the speaker’s love in terms that are characteristic of a flawed woman not a goddess. On the other hand, upon a review of "Sonnet 292" from the Canzoniere, through “Introduction to Literature and Arts,” one quickly perceives that Petrarch's work is full of symbolism. However, Petrarch’s utilization of resemblance and the romanticizing of Petrarch's female subject are normal for the Petrarchan style.
Love can be conveyed in many ways. It can be expressed through movements, gestures or even words on a paper. In William Shakespeare’s poems, “Sonnet 18” and “Sonnet 130,” both revolve around the idea of love, but are expressed in a different ways in terms of the mood, theme and the language used.
In today’s society, advertisements saturate our lives. In our day to day lives we find ourselves sorting through many advertising images and messages. However we overlook the moral impact that advertisements have on individuals in society, effecting the desires and inclinations of individuals. Through major markets such as tobacco and alcohol, their marketing impacts both moral ideas and moral behavior in society. The changes in society would showcase the powerful force that advertising has on society, which radically affects the very way we think, the concepts we have and the association we make.
In Shakespeare’s sonnet 130, the speaker ponders the beauty, or the lack thereof, of his lover. Throughout the sonnet, the speaker presents his lover as an unattractive mistress with displeasing features, but in fact, the speaker is ridiculing, through the use of vivid imagery, the conventions of love poems and the way woman are portrayed through the use of false comparisons. In the end, the speaker argues that his mistress may not be perfect, but in his eyes, her beauty is equal to any woman who is abundantly admired and put through the untrue comparison.