modern takes and cancel cultures
#1 Shakespeare
The bard is on shaky ground when it comes to cancel culture — but not in this piece (— although I could be! ) And William does need a modern overhaul. Many of William’s words are used in “Shall I Compare Thee to a Winter’s Day?” — a take on his famous Sonnet 18 — “Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer’s Day?” Likewise, many of his words are NOT used!😎™
On Shakespeare’s sonnets in general:
Instead of expressing worshipful love for an almost goddess-like yet unobtainable female love-object, as Petrarch, Dante, and Philip Sidney had done, Shakespeare introduces a young man. He also introduces the Dark Lady, who is no goddess. Shakespeare explores themes such as lust, homoeroticism, misogyny, infidelity, and acrimony in ways that may challenge, but which also open new terrain for the sonnet form.[2]
The primary source of Shakespeare’s sonnets is a quarto published in 1609 titled Shake-speare’s Sonnets. It contains 154 sonnets, which are followed by the long poem “A Lover’s Complaint”. Thirteen copies of the quarto have survived in fairly good shape from the 1609 edition, which is the only edition; there were no other printings.
The first 126 are addressed to a young man; the last 28 are either addressed to, or…
