“You speak an infinite deal of nothing."

Oh Shakespeare. This week in my Brit. Lit. class we are reading works from one of my most favorite playwright ever... actually he probably is my most favorite because I don't know of too many others who I would even be able to name let alone say that I appreciate/enjoy. Anyway...

Will's one of those writers that everyone knows (well, almost everyone, as the other day at work I asked a co-worker if she was any good at interpreting Shakespeare and she responded: "What is a Shakespeare?") from something or another. I feel like Romeo and Juliet would be considered his most popular work (blech!) followed by ones like Hamlet, Macbeth, Julius Caesar. I may be biased as those are the ones we read/performed at my High School. Midsummer Night's Dream, Taming of the Shrew, and Twelfth Night are probably also up there in popularity as I've seen performances of those (not to mention the whole slew of movies 'inspired by...' i.e. She's the Man and Ten Things I Hate About You, yep!). My favorites personally are his comedies, especially Much Ado About Nothing.

Little is know, however, about his Sonnets. And that's what we've been reading in class. I first read The Dark Lady Sonnets (127-152) and discovered the darker, mmm, no... scandalous side of Shakespeare. Even though scandals are within his plays they are treated far differently from the sonnets. They are either trivialized with comedy or over-dramatized with tragedy in his plays. But within these sonnets we see a seemingly realistic relationship portrayed. We also read the Fair Youth Sonnets (1-126) which are full of the themes of platonic love (some debate the platonic nature of this, though), the passing of time, and the power of words.

While I am so tempted to point out some quotes that show, I think, Shakespeare at his best, balancing reality's sorrows and joys (Sonnet 29 & 30), I think I've beaten that topic into the ground. So instead I'd like to share my most favourite quote that related to the theme of the power of words (or poetry specifically):

So long as man can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

-Sonnet 18, lines 13-14

Here Shakespeare is revealing a desire to immortalize the 'fair youth'. This sonnet is also the one that begins with the famous line "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" Shakespeare claims within the poem that the beloved youth is far better than a summer's day, which is fleeting and inconsistent in weather when the fair youth is like an eternal perfect summer's day. He then makes the point that the youth is made eternal by the sonnet, for words last far longer than summer. For as long as mankind is in existence so will Shakespeare's sonnet live on and in that sonnet is the life of the fair youth. Forever alive in words.

The thought of words living on forever sends shivers down my spine. So fellow writers, remember that the outcome of your task is two-sided. With it we have the capacity to either go down in history with shame or fame. Now we can't all be 'Shakespeare's but I'd encourage us all to aim at creating literature that not only immortalizes worthy characters and ideas and stories but also art that is as worthy of its acclaim tomorrow as it is today.

Thank you,

Jessica