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Seminar Notes The Shakespeare Industry
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Week 1 09/09/2020THE SONNETS
The Sonnets
- We know very little about the sonnets.
- We don’t know if Shakespeare even wanted them to be published.
- Were they supposed to be a collection? Or were they di erent poems written “randomly”?
- Are there sonnets that t with each other or some that don’t t together.
The general story of the sonnets
- Sonnet 1-17 —> the greed sonnets (= procreation)
- In some sonnets the addressee is male and is encouraged to procreate.
- General interpretation: it’s the story of 3 people,
- The speaker —> the autobiographical set of poems
- The fair friend
- the dark lady
- Interaction between the fair friend and the dark lady
- the dark lady is accused of stealing the fair friend, sonnet 144.
- the rival poet (only occurs in a few sonnets) —> rival to Shakespeare / the speaker’s love
life etc.
- If we wish to read the story as one it seems to be that of a love triangle. The dark lady and the
fair friend have an a air behind Shakespeare’s back, he blames the woman for stealing his
friend because she’s the worse spirit.
- Shakespeare compares the women to the devil.
- Contemporary example —> Dr Faustus: the good angel is the fair friend and the dark
angel is the dark lady.
Why would they not be one larger narrative
- Sonnet 145
- Pun with Anne Hathaway’s name in it. The poem seems to be written very early. The
middle of the sequence seems to contain an a air in London. The bay where all m
- Sonnet 129
- Ends with the word hell —> could mean vagina, it’s about intercourse with a woman.
- Fits with sonnet 144 where he calls the woman the devil
- Line 11 —> Sex is good while it lasts but when it’s over you become sad and it
becomes a hell.
- “negative poem” —> lust is something to feel bad about
- Sonnet 130
- Is it insulting or are we attered?
- He wanted to prove his contemporary poets wrong, who put their mistresses on a
pedestal; Shakespeare said she’s normal like everyone.
- You can’t compare a woman to a goddess, but it does make sense to compare her to
other women, so that’s what he’s doing.
- “positive poem” —> the mistress is seen in a positive light.
- Sonnet 66
- Sonnets before are all about defeating death. Ends with: death would be a better
solution than what I have to live with.
- Suggests that while 2/3 might have a story, the order doesn’t always make sense.
- There are many cases where the big narrative doesn’t really t.
- The thing about the fair friend and the dark lady is more of a modern interpretation
where the sonnets are interpreted within the story of shakespeare’s life.
- You can impose the story on most of the sonnets, but some reject them!
- Shakespeare may have written di erent sonnets for di erent people, but he might have
recycled them to use for other people.
- You can’t always tell the di erence between the gender of the addressee.
- Sonnet 18
- No sonnets are not speci c about what addressee they’re meant for.
1
ff fifl fi ff ff ff ff ff fifi
, - In the rst 126 if there are speci cs about the addressee’s gender most are about a man
…?
- Most are not clear on what gender they address.
- Maybe if one sonnet is misplaced in a sequence, why wouldn’t others be?
- Sonnet 147
- Your inward self might be di erent from your outer self.
- The speaker is very disappointed.
- Many of the sonnets are ambiguous.
- Sonnet 20
- Sonnet is addressed to a man with female qualities.
- Feminine rhyme (the only sonnet with this rhyme throughout)
- Women’s hearts aren’t faithful, but not the address!
- He’s got the gentleness and sweetness of the woman’s heart, but not the worst qualities
of women, he’s got the best of both worlds.
- He was created by mother nature to be a women but nature fell infatuated with it so
mother nature could be with him. The speaker of the poem who is male can not be with
it anymore.
- I’d love to have sex with you but we can’t because you’re a man.
- Other people’s interpretations make Shakespeare into a character to t their own
interpretation.
Week 1 11/09/2020
FRANK HARRIS, BERNARD SHAW, OSCAR WILDE
Oscar Wilde
- Why W.H. initials?
- the rst copy of the sonnets was dedicated to mr W.H.
- W.H. was the only begetter of the sonnets.
- Did he inspire them?
- Write them?
- They identify W.H. with the fair friend.
- The dedication was written by Thomas Thawk
- Chatman —> also a playwright of Shakespeare’s era.
- There are some sonnets that speak of a rival poet who at a certain moment peaks the
interest of the fair friend. The speaker becomes scared that he’ll lose the fair friend.
- Chatman is often named because there are parodies in the sonnets
- Marlowe is also mentioned sometimes.
- Why would Wilde have told his story in this way, why must he start in the present, what
for him was 1900.
- He wasn’t sure about who he wanted to be mr w.h., wilde made it more abstract.
- He could’ve made it a story, a storyteller doesn’t make truth-claims.
- There is an extra dimension where wilde distances himself from that theory.
- The way in which the characters portray di erent parallels, and there are parallels in the
plot.
- The plot —> there are forgeries mentioned in there
- Obvious: the painting which had been forged on behalf of Ciryl Graham.
- He wants to use it as (fake) evidence.
- Erskine faked his suicide
- Same reason as the painting —> fake support for his theory about W.H.
- Forger in the past: Thomas charterton (famous forger, romantic poet)
- Wrote a poem in medieval style, and then pretended it was a real manuscript and
published it.
- He then got caught and he committed suicide at a young age.
- In the story: they are brie y discussing him.
—> We mustn’t confuse ethical with aesthetically questions.
- maybe it’s a lie but it’s a beautiful lie.
- These two levels echo each other (level 1: Shakespeare and W.H.)
2
fi fi fl ff fi ff fi
, - Cyril Graham (level 2)
- Descibed as very pretty
- He loves doing women’s roles in theatre
- Women’s roles —> Similar to the boy actor W.H.
- Boy actor —> they portray female characters, females weren’t allowed to
act in Shakespeare’s time.
-
He loves shakespeare
-
He’s a drama queen
-
He’s seen to be beautiful, feminate.
-
AHs a fair friend who is older than him —> Erskine.
- Attitude older man to younger man
- How does shakespeare treat W.H.
- Someone who needs a mentor gure so he’s very kind and loving to him.
- Forgives W.H. when he leaves for a rival company and comes back.
- What Erskine is for Cyril graham is kind of similar.
- When he comes with fake evidence, he always forgives him.
- He was also describing him as very beautiful
- People in the present project themselves into Shakespeare and W.H., as they
were characters of the past but in their own image.
- They nd evidence that suits their case and their image of life.
- Oscar wilde (level 3)
- He was in love with a guy and went to prison for that.
- He portrays his own interests in this story.
- Cyril graham and Erskine, but they in turn are project them onto Shakespeare
and Will Hughes.
- Always had love a aires with younger men.
- Condemned to two years of hard labour —> ended his career, he almost died.
When he got out he was a drunk.
- Wilde initially started doing research after who this W.H. was.
- Theory that W.H. was this boy actor that Shakespeare became infatuated with.
- Went to show his theory to Harris, who said do you have any evidence with that?
- Wilde didn’t throw the theory away but he published it as a story.
Frank Harris
- Reminded about what Wilde left out from his story
- Shakespeare in harris’ story
- He’s most obsessed with the ladies, the dark lady especially but also Violetta (passing
crush).
- There is no dark lady in Wilde’s story whatsoever.
- Wilde did realise that later on and he expanded his story but she was a tiny role.
- W.H. inspires shakespeare in Wilde; The Dark lady is that for Harris’ story
- W.H. is a boy actor in Wilde; the relationship between W.H. and Shakespeare
isn’t as intense in Harris’ story.
- Lord Pembrooke, William herbert —> goes to him for advice to get with the Dark LAdy,
the lord cheats on his friends with the dark lady.
- Shakespeare cares more for men than to women.
- View of love
- The dark lady, Mary tten, I’d like to come and see you because W.H treats me this way
and you treat me in another way.
- Herbert —> he is dominant, sometimes mean and manipulative.
- Shakespeare —> sur ng martyr who’s always able to forgive her and is kind to her.
- What does Shakespeare get out of it?
- She treats him like she is treated by Lord Herbert.
- Story of the testament
- Shakespeare’s testament comes in.
- End of the play is the rst time that Shakespeare gets to know that Shakespeare was a
married man.
- It’s his daughter Judith who says “i know mother wasn’t too kind to you but she was to
us so please put her in your testament”, shakespeare says “yes I forgive her”.
- Why did he leave her in the testament?
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