Love Kills Slowly

Shakespeare has written hundreds, possibly thousands, of pieces of literature in his lifetime. His canon is one that is still admired and analyzed today. In all pieces of Shakespeare’s work, there are major thematic strands that are used throughout the piece, such as lust, appetite, animals, flowers, etc. These references are used in an almost obsessive manner by multiple characters in different situations, but every reference relates to the bigger theme. One theme out of Shakespeare’s repertoire is the concept of sickness. This theme is specifically used in his play Much Ado About Nothing, as well as multiple sonnets.

The theme of sickness is used in Much Ado About Nothing whenever the conversation relates to love, which leads to the common view of love-sickness. This theme is also broken down into smaller streams; when relating to lovesickness, branching streams include Cupid, disease, sick/sickness, ill, plague pestilence, complexion, pale, and death.  “Cupid” is used in I.i.35, I.i.163, I.i.223, I.i.243, and II.i.748. “Sick” is used in II.i.671, II.ii.764, III.i.1088, III.iiii.1552, V.i.2208, and V.iiii.2633. “Ill” is used in II.i.538, II.i.556, II.iii.896, III.i.1160, III.ii.1257, and III.ii.1282. “Disease” is used in I.i.74. “Plague” is used in II.iii.898 and III.ii.1319. “Pestilence” is used in I.i.74. “Complexion” is used in I.i.284 and II.i.671. “Pale” is used in I.i.222. “Death” is used in V.iii.2509.

The arrangement of these themes is directly related to the comic curve of the play. The curve starts at one point and then slopes downward, which grows in happiness and bliss, but away from normalcy; it continues to fall until the turning point of the plot. In Act III, scene ii, when Don John brings Don Pedro and Claudio to see a false Hero making love to Borachio. After that, the curve slopes upwards towards normalcy again. The sequence of thematic streams is used in the same pattern, and shows the process of being lovesick. Once one falls in love, the person gets ill, worsens, and approaches death, with only a chance of rebounding and recovering. Cupid is one of the first streams mentioned, followed by streams such as sickness, ill, pale, etc. The streams develop into the ultimatum of death, when Hero metaphorically dies in Act IV, scene i. This ordering is intended to represent the progression of falling in love and how one becomes physically sick from love.

We know Shakespeare obsesses over thematic strands, but how often does he truly incorporate them into his writing? In Act I, Cupid is mentioned first by Beatrice, talking of Benedick’s return. The next two times are from Benedick, and the last mentioning is from Don Pedro. Don Pedro says in Act I.i.222, “I shall see thee, ere I die, look pale with love,” saying that one gets pale and sickly once fallen in love. “Sick” is mentioned as a comparison to love. Benedick says in line 223 of I.i “With anger, with sickness, or with hunger, my lord, not with love.” In III.i.1088, Hero explains to Ursula the plan of how to make Beatrice believe Benedick is in love with her. “My talk to thee must be how Benedick is sick in love with Beatrice.” Benedick also says at Act IV.iiii.2633 “they swore that you were almost sick for me.” This is when he discovers that the relationship between Beatrice and he was all a set-up. In Act III.ii.1319, Don John says to Claudio and Don Pedro “O plague right well prevented! So will you say when you have seen the sequel.” The plague he is referring to would be Claudio’s marriage to Hero, for this line is said after Don John leads the two to the false Hero peepshow. These uses all have a direct relation to the theme of love. In Act V.iii.2509, Claudio reads an epitaph that he had written in memory of Hero. He says: “Done to death by slanderous tongues was the Hero that here lies: death, in guerdon of her wrongs, gives her fame which never dies…graves, yawn and yield your dead, till death be uttered.” The relation between plot and theme is that Hero represented Claudio’s love and affection. After the incident of Hero’s adultery claims, Claudio lost his liking of Hero. However, we see that Claudio’s love never really dies, since he vowed to read his epitaph at Hero’s tomb annually; “Now, unto thy bones, goodnight. Yearly will I do this rite” (V.iii.2529).  These themes are all directly related to the involvement of love between the characters.

The visual media project we produced also played an important role in showing the significance of the theme and relevance to the play. We were able to show the sequence of sickness that one goes through when falling in love, which then leads to becoming lovesick. The use of thematic streams that branch from the central sickness dogma follow a pattern that mimics the flow of this play’s dramatic curve; it starts at an initial point and plummets away from normalcy by developing the theme into a form of sickness worse than its previous . When we first presented our project, the class had a difficult time understanding the concept of it all, and it made the group realize that it takes much more to show all the segments of love and its effects on a person.

The theme of sickness does not solely relate to Shakespeare’s play. It also pertains to a number of his sonnets. Sonnet CXLVII’s first quatrain says “my love is as a fever/ Longing still for that which longer nurseth the disease/ Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill/ The uncertain sickly appetite to please.” This means that his love is like a fever that looks for that which keeps one sick, and it feeds on the same component that keeps one sick to please the uncommon appetite. “My reason, the physician to my love/ Angry that his prescriptions are not kept/ Hath left me, and I desperate now approve/ Desire is death, which physic did expect.” Reasoning is the solution to the sickness of love, and the personified reason is angry that love is taking over and making one ill. Now that the narrator is in love, his desire is death, which was what the reasoning was expecting. “Past cure I am, now reason is past care/ And frantic-mad with evermore unrest/ My thoughts and my discourse as madmen’s are/ At random from the truth vainly express’d.” The narrator is past cure and reason alike, and also insane with constant unrest; his thoughts are like those of a madman, at random and rarely based on the truth. “For I have sworn thee fair and thought thee bright/ Who are as black as hell, as dark as night.” This last line closes the sonnet with the narrator’s false pretense of his love being bright and fair, when she is really black as hell and dark as night. This relates to the sickness theme expressed in Much Ado About Nothing in that it also shows the sequence of love. One falls in love, and then undergoes a process of sicknesses, ultimately leading to death.

The sickness theme is also present in Sonnet CXVIII. “Thus policy in love, to anticipate/ The ills that were not, grew to faults assured/ And brought to medicine a healthful state/ Which, rank of goodness, would by ill be cured/ But thence I learn, and find the lesson true/ Drugs poison him that so fell sick of you” (118.9-14). The rules of love, which are to anticipate the wrongdoings, grew to failures guaranteed . They then brought you to a healthy state, which would be cured by illness. But then he learned something he found to be true; the drugs that usually heal have poisoned the man that has fallen in love with you. This sonnet strongly connects the theme of sickness with the concept of love.

Love may be a very complex, inconceivable concept that is difficult to explain, but Shakespeare does it best by comparing it to illness. He has shown that love mimics a sequence of sicknesses by using this thematic strand in an obsessive fashion. 

Devouring Time

Devouring Time, blunt though the lion’s paws,

And make the earth devour her own sweet brood;

Pluck the keen teeth from the fierce tiger’s jaws,

And burn the long-lived phoenix in her blood;

Make glad and sorry seasons as thou fleets,

And do whate’er thou wilt, swift-footed Time,

To the wide world and all her fading sweets;

But I forbid thee one most heinous crime:

O, carve not with thy hours my love’s fair brow,

Nor draw no lines there with thine antique pen;

Him in thy course untainted do allow

For beauty’s pattern to succeeding men.

Yet, do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong,

My love shall in my verse ever live young.

Time is the one factor in this world that does not change for anyone or anything. Everyday I’m sure you hear “there isn’t enough time in the day” or “I wish I could go back in time,” but no matter how much we grumble, time keeps going at the same pace it’s been moving at for the past 4.55 billion years. Many aspects of our lives change over time, such as our preferences, our physicality and mentality, and our peers. Nonetheless, there is the chance that some pieces remain stable and firm. One slice of life’s complicated pie is the expression of love. While growing up, individuals learn to what they are and are not attracted. A guy may like blondes in high school, but then develop an infatuation for brunettes in college. However, when the masses find true love, the object of their perfection is quite permanent for them. If they even believe in such a thing, seeming perfection stays with them. Love becomes a necessary part of the body, like the heart or liver. Shakespeare’s nineteenth sonnet talks of the changes time can bring; blunting the lion’s paws, plucking the teeth from a tiger’s jaw, even making the earth devour her own sweet brood. The narrator of the sonnet, however, forbids one aspect from Time’s “most heinous crime to the wide world and all her fading sweets”, and that is his love. Time is not allowed to change his love’s face (19.9-10), the image of beauty, but it is allowed to leave its mark on succeeding men (19.11-12). “Yet, do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong, my love shall in my verse ever live young” (19.13-14) No matter what time does to the world and all its components, his love will never change.

In Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, Claudio is a young soldier who falls in love with Hero, daughter of the wealthy nobleman Leonato. The term “love at first sight” is best to describe the relationship between Claudio and Hero; Claudio is strongly influenced by what he sees, and after looking at Hero, he instantly fell in love and they agree to be married. The antagonist of the play, Don John, hears of this marriage and looks to ruin the ideal relationship by setting up a vindictive act. With the help of his henchman, Borachio, he makes Claudio believe that Hero is cheating on him by showing him a false Hero having intercourse in front of an open window. The dramatic irony is that the audience knows it’s really Borachio’s woman, Margaret, but Claudio truly thinks its Hero. On the wedding day, Claudio refuses to marry Hero and accuses her cheating. Since everyone believes Claudio, who is backed up by Don Pedro the Prince, Hero is slandered and scolded for committing such a foul act. The friar suggests that Leonato should tell everyone Hero is dead, hoping that the framers would come clean after hearing that an innocent girl has died from grief and shame. This would represent the effects of time; “And do whate’er thou wilt, swift-footed Time, To the wide world and all her fading sweets” (19.6-7).

In act V, scene iii, Claudio visits Hero’s tomb, mourning her believed death, and reading an epitaph that Leonato ordered him to write. He may as well have written Shakespeare’s Sonnet 19 instead. He posted it onto the tomb wall and promised to read it on that day, every year.  This dedication shows that Claudio still has feelings for Hero, even though he thinks she has done him wrong. “Now, unto thy bones good night! Yearly will I do this rite” (V.iii.24-25). The sonnet should actually take the place of Claudio’s epitaph, since he is showing that his love for Hero will not change over time, even if time has taken Hero’s life.

Time is a continuous freight train on a never-ending track. You could try to stop it as much as you can, but it’ll keep pushing forward. Many qualities of life change dramatically over time, but there is always a certain handful that can stay the same and that can be retained by the written word. Lucky for Claudio, his love for Hero initially faltered, but stayed strong in the end, and this is proven by his writing of her epitaph. 

Forget Bedtime Stories, Here's a Youtube Video

Technology is a factor in today’s society that is progressing and developing at an exponential rate. To look back as little as five years ago, people would say that the tech used back then is completely out of date and useless; the technological advancements made across the globe in current times is simply amazing, to say the least. Products are being developed that people couldn’t even dream of, or only saw in science fiction. Laser technology, satellites, space exploration, medical developments, the list goes on forever. I’m sure if you look around the room you’re in, you’re guaranteed to see one piece of technology that was made within the past 10 years. Although the advancements are grand and vast, there are many contrasting views on the growth of this new age. One of the stronger opinions say that technology is a giant hindrance on our culture; it kills social and communication skills, shrinks our ability to focus, and changes our whole thought process.

Despite the negative views on technology, there are some positive aspects to these developments. In Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan’s article from “iBrain”, different effects from new technology are discussed and seen as beneficial. For starters, the word “google” is now an official verb, which means, “to search for information about (someone or something) on the Internet, typically using the search engine Google.” People are now referred to as “Digital Immigrants” or “Digital Natives”, depending on whether they have to adapt to the changes or grow up learning the basics of technology, and then some. As the world becomes more digital and automated, we are learning to react more quickly to visual stimuli and improve many forms of attention. We are also learning to strain out only the information we’re looking for when surfing the web. The incredible speeds of the Internet are also affecting our times of reaction. Since the processes we perform on the computer are becoming so choppy and automated, we have learned to complete our actions as quick as possible. There has also been proof that average IQ scores are steadily rising, and the ability to multitask without error is improving (thanks to video games). It may even be possible that future generations will evolve with smaller hands in order to type and text faster and more efficiently.

As many benefactors as there may be, people will still find flaws in technology. Adam Gopnik's article "The Information" talks about 3 different types of people with different views on the advancement of technology: the Never-Betters, the Better-Nevers, and the Ever-Wasers. These divisions set the views of technology on a black-white-gray scale; the Never-Betters are for, the Better-Nevers against, and the Ever-Wasers in the middle. One Better-Never thought is that the Internet is taking over our minds and that we aren't able to think for ourselves anymore. Due to the amazingly fast pace that the internet works at these days, our time to process actions is diminishing every day, and possibly even more automated due to our technological repetition. Going to websites, checking e-mail, making online purchases (for you shopaholics out there), etc. When we find a site that we really enjoy, and we visit often, the process to get to that site almost becomes second nature. Checking e-mail is a zombie-like process, seeking out only the new messages that seem significant enough to actually read. Most of the time, people pay no mind to how they complete their objective, since it's the same process every time. Some say that the real damage is being done at the neurological level, that our children are having their brains altered by too much instant messaging and such. These mentalities maintain the dogmatic idea that technology is bringing society down to a dumber level, and the fact that people are slowly, but surely, turning into drones only reinforces the views of Gopnik and other Luddites. 

Michael Wesch's video “Web 2.0” argues that the machine is breaking the process down for us so that tasks are simpler and less time consuming, such as uploading media onto websites. For example, in Wesch's video, it describes how the HTML Internet language fuses the content of a page with the form. Then XML comes along and divides the two; the code of XML only describes the content of the page, not the form. The Internet is also breaking down our reading and writing skills. Every action we perform on the Internet is becoming more automated and systematic for us, and it takes little to no effort to focus on a selection of writing, despite the type. As technology advances, the "efficiency" of our interpretations online is increasing, and our levels of focus are steadily declining, since we're spending less and less time on each page and link on the web. Computers are also evolving into machines that can remember our technological habits, such as the pages we visit, the music we listen to, the style of fonts we like, etc., and this is only contributing to how little we have to think while on the internet. As I said before, we only need a small amount of focus while surfing the web, and as the world grows more and more automated, that level is becoming infinitesimal. It’s even possible that the increasing cases of ADD and ADHD are due to the growth of the Internet. If this trend continues, how do you think all generations following ours will be different from us? They may even have mentalities on the complete opposite end of the spectrum compared to ours today.

Nicholas Carr’s article “Is Google Making Us Stupid” sends the same message as Gopnik’s article; technology has a significant effect on our society. It affects the way we think, the way we interact, the way we communicate, and much more. The shame of it all is that future generations will be born without experiencing a life without the mass amounts of technology that there will soon be. Anyone who was born around the late 80s or earlier has an idea of what life was like without technology orbiting around our skulls. It seems like kids today are born with Blackberrys in their hands and their 5th birthday present is a MacBook. Kids like these don't know anything but a life full of technology, and when they see how our culture was without all the hype, they'll sit there in disbelief and ask "How is it even possible to live like that?” If someone needs to find a certain piece of information, such as the background of a culture, different generations will find different ways to access what they need due to their experiences with technology & the Internet. An older adult who isn’t familiar with the Internet may prefer to look up an African tribe in the Britannica Encyclopedia set, while a high school student would simply type the name into Google and skim multiple pages until they pick out the information they need. That’s how the Internet is dividing the people; that’s how it’s affecting our culture. 

Is technology becoming too much of a problem? It seems that way. With the constant desire to go faster on the web and to have more features than any other product, our minds are becoming as automated as the voicemail message on your new 4G cell phone (if you even know what 4G is). Technology, mainly the Internet, is affecting the masses in such a way that our future generations won’t even think of opening a book. At least 1 computer will be in every house within the decade, and it will be the primary source of all information needed. Our children’s children will be able to multitask 5 different chores at once and make decisions in a split second, thanks to all those video games. Overall, the growth of technology in our society has its share of malefactors, but its development & impact is unfortunately inevitable.  

Lovesick

To See or Not To See? That Is the Question

Read J. Anthony Blair on the question of whether visual arguments are possible. On your blog, write for twelve minutes (time yourself!): Can images do what words do? Why or why not?

Images are perfectly capable of doing what words do. One image could enforce the same point as a twenty page thesis, and have the same impact, if not a better one. The phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words" is heard commonly, and that is because, as said before, a single picture could prove the same point as a lecture or published paper. Blair argues that images are not as significant because they can be interpreted in multiple different ways. He says that a visual argument has to be clear and understandable. Does that mean that all images used in arguments are difficult to understand? A prime example would be during World War II, with the image of Rosie the Riveter. Women were needed in the factories while the men were at war, and the image of Rosie gave strength and self confidence to many women that thought they weren't able to contribute to the war. It may be true that a Picasso painting may not be used for a social argument, but there are images that are perfectly capable of delivering the right message to its viewers.

Project 2 Thoughts

After thinking about my project, I kinda feel like some of the arrangements weren't 3-page worthy. Writing about Claudio's affection for Hero was significant, but pretty simple, and hard to elaborate on.

Malevolency, thy name is Don John

In Act IV.i, Leonato repudiates his daughter's virtue. Why? Defend the claim that this announcement (legitimate or not) is a return to the status quo, the so-called "normal" of the action.

Leonato repudiates his daughter's virtue because he believes that she actually was the one that was caught in the act, which was the reason Claudio refused the marriage. Since there was no marriage, Hero would not be married into a family of wealth, which is what Leonato expected. It essentially is a return to normalcy because it seemed like things were going too well; Beatrice and Benedick were starting a relationship, Don Pedro was successfully making his matches, and it all seemed as if it were going according to plan. Too bad life doesn't always go the way we want it to, and Shakespeare shows that by making this perfect couple, who seemed too good to be true, fall apart due to a malevolent framed act established by Don John.