My sophomore year in high school brought me what I thought was a healthy dose of Shakespeare’s works. Through my required British literature course and an elective attributed to the man himself, I thought I had a pretty good idea of about the legend that is Shakespeare. However, my overall, my experience with Shakespeare has been limited to his dramatic works. The sonnets assigned for this week, opened my eyes to an aspect of Shakespeare than had been previously overlooked. I cannot say I always enjoy reading in Shakespearean English, but I can say that the work that I have encounter of Shakespeare has seemed to always strike an interest with me.
The first three sonnets in our Norton Anthology, sonnet 1, sonnet 3, and sonnet 12 share a theme of the importance of childbearing. Having never read Shakespeare’s sonnets before this idea was a little surprising. I was half expecting sappy love poems not a public service announcement to have children.
Sonnet 1 starts with, “From fairest creatures we desire increase, That thereby beauty’s rose might never die… his tender heir might ear his memory;” (1062) I can see how this could be interpreted in a few ways, but how I read it was, from the beautiful people or animals even, we as humans want and even expect increase, in this case procreation. Having children, would result in the good qualities of that person or creature to live beyond the life of the particular individuals through their offspring. Shakespeare goes as far as to accuse gluttony on line 14 to those who do not pass their gifts along prior to dying.
Sonnet 3 continues these same ideals. The second line of the sonnet “now is the time that face should form another” speaks to the man in the mirror in attempt to influence the startup of a family. Very similarly to Sonnet 1, Shakespeare tells the reader to not cheat the world out of a child. “Thou dost beguile the world, unbless some mother.” (1062) The poem continues to call men who do not have children foolish and then reinstates the message in the first lines of sonnet 1. “Die single, and thine image dies with thee.” Shakespeare in both sonnet 1 and 3 presents two very different ideals: the very giving idea of having children to give your good to the world and the very selfish idea of having children so that your legacy will cease to die when you do. Each of these arguments lends itself to the contradicting ideals humans may have in relation to major decisions as in whether to have a child.
Sonnet 12 differs from the central message of having children in sonnets 1 and 3. Sonnet 12 is more about time passing by. However the end of the sonnet presents the idea of having children similar to those observed in sonnet 1 and 3. “And nothing ‘gainst Time’s scthe can make defense Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.” In this instance your offspring, who outlive you are your only defense against time, since when you perish, they who are in essence a part of you, continue to live on.
These sonnets seem to be written to persuade. I continually questioned who the audience Shakespeare had in mind while writing these particular sonnets while reading. Who did Shakespeare want to influence to have children? Likewise, why did it matter to Shakespeare if this person had children? It wasn’t as if he did not have children of his own to satisfy this desire.
I think it's a good idea to look at Shakespeare as an artist who brings various approaches to his writing. He tends to look at different ideas or concepts and offers what he believes to be a refreshing alternative approach. For him love isn't only a romantic ideal, but serves a practical approach as well. I agree with you completely that the speaker in the poem seeks to carry on his legacy, and looks at his relationship as a sense of fulfilling his duty to have children. What I took from the other sonnets were concerns about what you leave behind when you're gone, and I feel Shakespeare viewed children as a means to carry on his legacy.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you focus on these first three sonnets. As I was reading, I found myself looking to these initial poems as the "odd ones out", namely because of their emphasis on the seemingly strange topic of procreation. You are totally right, these sonnets do come off seeming a little Public Service Announcement-y! I found sonnet 3 in particular to be the strangest of the bunch, namely because of the motivations behind it. Again, I am forced to agree with you when you pinpoint the selfish (or perhaps, human)desire to have one's own legacy live on far after one is deceased. This seems like a really bizarre topic to write a sonnet about, and I think it serves as further testimony that Shakespeare can literally do whatever he wants with the English language and its genres, and, because of his skill and genius within the realm, come out a champion.
ReplyDeleteOn an unrelated note, Sonnet 3 reminded me of a quote I once read, I don't remember where, maybe in Nicole Krauss's "The History of Love". It goes, "Is that such a selfish thing? To wish the world would stop existing when I do?" I think this sort of expresses a similar sentiment that Shakespeare was invoking in his third sonnet - reproduction would allow your legacy to live on forever, and this idea of wanting to live on through history, when taken to the extreme, might create a hope that history simply ceases to exist when you die, that you are the center of the world and without you, things cannot go on. Kind of a stretch maybe, but I swear it made sense in my head before I typed this!
Oh well, nicely done rumination!