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Linguistic
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Semantic
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Structural
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Cultural
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Specific textual examples of what you’ve observed
when reading at this level—cited in MLA format.
(You may use numbers or bullets here to take notes)
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“Two loves I have, of comfort and despair” (1)
“The better angel is
a man right fair,” (3)
“Yet this shall I
ne'er know, but live in doubt,
Till my bad angel fire my good one out.” (13-14)
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“The better angel is
a man right fair,
The worser spirit a
woman colored ill.” (3-4)
“But being both from
me both to each friend,
I guess one angel in another’s hell.” (11-12)
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“Two loves I have, of comfort and despair” (1)
“Yet this shall I
ne'er know, but live in doubt,
Till my bad angel fire my good one out.”(13-14)
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“The better angel is
a man right fair,
The worser spirit a
woman colored ill.” (3-4)
“But being both from
me both to each friend,
I guess one angel in
another’s hell.” (11-12)
“Yet this shall I
ne'er know, but live in doubt,
Till my bad angel fire my good one out.”(13-14)
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Demonstrate the development of complexity of thought
at each level by writing a descriptive response to what you’ve written in the
row above. (Analyze your thought patterns when observing the examples you’ve
listed above—these may also be in note-taking form)
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This sonnet is a
Shakespearean sonnet, so formatting is important to recognize. There are three
quatrains and an ending rhyming couplet, which reveals the main idea of the
poem. The rhyme scheme engages the reader because it is lyrical. In this
specific poem, the conceit of the speaker’s lovers being angels allows the
audience to recognize how the writer feels about both of his angels.
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The conceit of angels in
this poem is important to recognize how the speaker loves two people; one
angel is a man, one angel is a woman. He uses contrasting diction to
differentiate his feelings towards both of his angels, and to describe his
angels' hell. This attributes to the poem by giving it a hopeless tone,
because every person in this sonnet has a problem that cannot be fixed.
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The first sentence in this
poem introduces two people, described as angels. The contrasting adjectives
describing these angels, however, are written not before the noun but after.
This develops the speaker’s conflict and allows the reader to create a
scenario that is more dramatic than if in the adjectives had been properly
placed. The ending couplet reveals the
end thoughts of the speaker, in which he cannot decide which angel is
actually the worse angel.
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The speaker has two loves,
each of the opposite gender. The forces the idea that the speaker is
bisexual. It is established that there is a better angel, a man, and a worse
angel, a woman. However, both angels experience each other’s hell, leading to
the idea that the man experiences the feeling of being an outcast for his
homosexuality, such as a woman experiences regardless of sexual identity.
Both angels live in this hell, and though it has been established that the
man is the good angel, the angel the speaker loves more, and the bad angel is
the woman, an angel that the speaker can physically love, the couplet reveals
something else; that the speaker doubts which angel is truly better or worse.
In society, the male angel would be considered worse, considered immoral. A
man should be with a woman. So the speaker will continue to doubt his angels
until the bad angel unambiguously reveals itself as the worse angel.
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Close Reading Text Analysis Chart
Complete
the chart below by synthesizing your notes (above) into a brief (but
thorough—fill the space) analysis of each level as it applies to your passage.
You may replicate the chart and type your responses in the space provided—size
10 font, Times New Roman, roughly 300 words apiece
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William Shakespeare’s Sonnet #144
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Analysis of Close Reading
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Two
loves I have, of comfort and despair,
Which,
like two spirits, do suggest me still;
The
better angel is a man right fair,
The
worser spirit a woman colored ill.
To
win me soon to hell, my female evil
Tempteth
my better angel from my side,
And
would corrupt my saint to be a devil,
Wooing
his purity with her foul pride.
And
whether that my angel be turned fiend
Suspect
I may, but not directly tell;
But
being both from me both to each friend,
I
guess one angel in another’s hell.
Yet
this shall I ne'er know, but live in doubt,
Till
my bad angel fire my good one out.
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In this sonnet,
Shakespeare discusses the negative temptations of both of his
"angels," insinuating (as several of his sonnets do) that
Shakespeare was bisexual. He refers to the male angel as his
"better" angel, and puts a lot of the blame on the female angel for
tempting the other away. He does make an assumption that "one
angel" is "in another's hell" which relates to the themes in
much of Shakespeare's work. In "Taming of the Shrew," Katherine is
cast out for her poor manners. This is relatable to the female angel
discussed in the sonnet, since the blame in both the sonnet and the play is
usually placed on the women. However, Shakespeare is clearly still
sympathetic toward the female angel, as he is toward his male angel. He is
identifying the struggles of being cast out as a homosexual with the
struggles of being cast out as a woman. Katherine is cast out for her
behavior when men would normally be excused for it. Shakespeare's revelation
of his society's unfair discrimination toward both homosexuals and females
are evident in both Sonnet 144 and "The Taming of the Shrew."
This sonnet is a
Shakespearean sonnet, so formatting is important to recognize. There are
three quatrains and an ending rhyming couplet, which reveals the main idea of
the poem. The rhyme scheme engages the reader because it is lyrical. In this
specific poem, the conceit of the speaker’s lovers being angels allows the
audience to recognize how the writer feels about both of his angels.
The conceit of angels in
this poem is important to recognize how the speaker loves two people; one
angel is a man, one angel is a woman. He uses contrasting diction to differentiate
his feelings towards both of his angels, and to describe his angels' hell.
This attributes to the poem by giving it a hopeless tone, because every
person in this sonnet has a problem that cannot be fixed.
The first sentence in
this poem introduces two people, described as angels. The contrasting
adjectives describing these angels, however, are written not before the noun
but after. This develops the speaker’s conflict and allows the reader to
create a scenario that is more dramatic than if in the adjectives had been
properly placed. The ending couplet
reveals the end thoughts of the speaker, in which he cannot decide which
angel is actually the worse angel.
The speaker has two
loves, each of the opposite gender. The forces the idea that the speaker is
bisexual. It is established that there is a better angel, a man, and a worse
angel, a woman. However, both angels experience each other’s hell, leading to
the idea that the man experiences the feeling of being an outcast for his
homosexuality, such as a woman experiences regardless of sexual identity.
Both angels live in this hell, and though it has been established that the
man is the good angel, the angel the speaker loves more, and the bad angel is
the woman, an angel that the speaker can physically love, the couplet reveals
something else; that the speaker doubts which angel is truly better or worse.
In society, the male angel would be considered worse, considered immoral. A
man should be with a woman. So the speaker will continue to doubt his angels
until the bad angel unambiguously reveals itself as the worse angel.
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I thought it was clever and well thought out to choose sonnets by Shakespeare as your poems to analyze. It makes it so instead of trying to vaguely connect two different authors from two different time periods you could expand on Shakespeare as an author and as a person. One thing that you could have done better is explain the context of his sonnets more clearly. How do we know that he is writing from his own perspective? Could some of his sonnets (especially ones like this) be written from a fictional character's perspective?
ReplyDeleteAnother thing that you touched on that I enjoyed (not present in this analysis of poetry, but rather in your presentation) was Shakespeare's creation of female characters that played more of a role than just a wife or daughter. In order to make your argument more complete, though, you could have conceded at some point in your presentation and explained why Shakespeare may have sometimes portrayed women in a negative light (in plays like Hamlet).
I think your take on Shakespeare’s Sonnet 144 was a very unique one. The imagery creates in my mind the classic devil on left shoulder/angel on right scenario in which the two represent the person’s conflicting desires, but you took it to physically mean a man and a woman. I think the fact that, with this interpretation, a woman’s freedom and identity is compared to that of a homosexual man is incredibly important. In history, homosexual men and women in general have been viewed as inferior, as something to be ashamed of, something that should be kept hidden. That Shakespeare would align how homosexual persons are viewed with how women are viewed makes a strong statement against the misogyny of the time. In fact, as the woman is depicted as the lesser between the two, could Shakespeare have been hinting that women are viewed as that much more inferior?
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if you did consider this poem from the perspective of Shakespeare caught in between two warring halves of himself, his humane side and his darker side, and whether the entire sonnet is his own self-doubt that he’ll be able to overcome his darker angel. The symbolism in that the dark angel is a woman, then, may actually be representative of some misogyny on the part of Shakespeare, who portrays the wily, cunning side of himself as a female. There have been a number of literary critics who believe that Shakespeare portrayed women as “weak” and “submissive” (Fothergill 1), and of a 2nd class to the men around them. Using this interpretation, how do you think you would tie Sonnet 144 back to your thesis? Or do you think this interpretation is weaker than your original one and has little merit? I’m curious!