Carol Anne Hathaway

523 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The element of love and romance in the drama merchant of venice

In Carol Anne Duffy’s sonnet, “Anne Hathaway,” she reveals the hidden, compassionate love story between Anne Hathaway and William Shakespeare. As the wife of Shakespeare, Anne reveals the truth behind the second best bed that Shakespeare gave her in his will. Even though, this portrayed their marriage without love and happiness, the second best bed saw and felt the real passion and love during their marriage. Through the mind of the Anne Hathaway, Duffy exposes the truth about Shakespeare and Hathaway’s relationship, while emphasizing the mutual respect and love the two felt. Anne Hathaway recalls the true love that Shakespeare felt for her, juxtaposing the rumors of a troubled relationship. As husband and wife, William and Anne shared a …show more content…

Together in the second best bed, it was “a spinning world of forests, castles, torchlight, clifftops, seas...” in which “[they] loved in.” Turning the mundane bed into a fantasy world indicates that their love was out of this “world.” Isolated with no distractions in the bed having sex, the “spinning” displays their love as disorienting, since it is constantly moving from a “forest” to a “castle,” and whenever their love may take them. No matter how chaotic life was for the two, their love was always a fantasy world they escaped too. Undeniably, Anne infers that their love was a magical journey, in which “[her] lover’s words were shooting stars which fell to earth as kisses on these lips,” and “[her] body now a softer rhyme to his, now echo, assonance.” While referring to Shakespeare’s poems, his “words” represent “stars” the world can see and read, however, to Hathaway the “words” are more private and intimate. While the “words” he reveals to the world through his poetry is untouchable, to Hathaway the “words” symbolize the kisses only she can feel from Shakespeare. Shakespeare’s poetry connects the two in a relationship that is an experience only Hathaway feels and witnesses. However, comparing

Show More
Related

  • As the World Turns, So Do the Days of Our Lives

    1037 Words  | 3 Pages

    Twelfth Night, written by Shakespeare between the years of 1599 and 1601 (“Shakespeare-Online”), is easily one of his most well-known plays. A year after the assumed date of publication, on February the 2nd of 1602, Twelfth Night was performed for the first time (“William-Shakespeare)”. The location of the production is thought to have taken place in the Middle Temple, which was one of four law schools within London that were known as the Inns of Court (“Shakespeare-Online”). Though some would classify Twelfth Night as generic, it is laced with a sharp sense of humor and controversial concerns that can easily be applied to the issues of present day. Many of these issues, such as marriage, gender identity, sex, homosexuality, and social ambition, are relevant in today’s society, making them easy to relate to. The central theme of the play is romance. The characters all experience love, in one way or another, whether it be unrequited or shared between more than one person. The plot is intricately woven, sometimes confusingly so, between twists and turns throughout the multiple acts, but it never strays too far from the subject of adoration. Despite the hardships, misperception and deceit the characters experience, six individuals are brought together in the name of holy matrimony in three distinct nuptials.

    Read More

  • Billy Collins Sonnet Analysis

    1212 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “Sonnet,” Billy Collins satirizes the classical sonnet’s volume to illustrate love in only “.fourteen lines.” (1). Collins’s poem subsists as a “Sonnet,” though there exists many differences in it, countering the customarily conventional structure of a sonnet. Like Collins’s “Sonnet,” Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130” also faces incongruities with the classic sonnet form as he satirizes the concept of ideal beauty that was largely a convention of writings and art during the Elizabethan era. Although these poems venture through different techniques to appear individually different from the classic sonnet, the theme of love makes the poems analogous.

    Read More

  • Love: The Great Equalizer in Midsummer Night’s Dream

    954 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... as they present pure fantasy, and the lovers have one foot in each world; they experience desperation in the face of harsh realities, but meanwhile they learn and change as a result of their fantastical dreams. The allusions used in each world illustrate the differences between them and bring them together simultaneously. All of the myths and legends referenced have similar themes and origins, but each is interpreted differently by the speaker; the lovers speak of mythological figures much like themselves, the mechanicals attempt to do the same with little success, and the fairies reference gods and goddess who toy with the fates of mortal lovers. Such striking similarities echo the ever-present theme that in love, we are all the same. Whether we fancy a donkey, a meddling fairy, or a friendly Athenian, in love there is beauty, hilarity, and irrationality in excess.

    Read More

  • Othello and the Force of Love

    3014 Words  | 7 Pages

    In her book, Everybody’s Shakespeare: Reflections Chiefly on the Tragedies, Maynard Mack comments on the love that exists between the hero and heroine:

    Read More

  • Gender Roles and Attitudes toward Love in Shakespeare's Hamlet

    6005 Words  | 13 Pages

    Romeo and Juliet is a heart-breaking tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare telling us the story of two teenage ‘star-cross’d lovers’ whose unfortunate deaths ultimately unite the dispute between their two families. Despite the perils involved, they fall in love and marry with the help of two characters, Friar Lawrence and the Nurse. Throughout the play, Shakespeare portrays a range of different kinds of love through the central female characters. Maternal love is offered to Juliet by the Nurse and Juliet’s own reckless and impetuous love brought about by inexperience, which results in a doomed love. Lady Capulet shows business and more of an economic view on love. While these types of love are being shown, Shakespeare challenges the acknowledged roles of women in instances of courtly love. Instead of this, the audience witness Juliet as a fourteen year old woman taking control of her own future and rejecting her parents’ decisions to experience real heartfelt love.

    Read More

  • Close Reading of Shakespeare´s Sonnet 130

    671 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sonnet 130 is Shakespeare’s harsh yet realistic tribute to his quite ordinary mistress. Conventional love poetry of his time would employ Petrarchan imagery and entertain notions of courtly love. Francis Petrarch, often noted for his perfection of the sonnet form, developed a number of techniques for describing love’s pleasures and torments as well as the beauty of the beloved. While Shakespeare adheres to this form, he undermines it as well. Through the use of deliberately subversive wordplay and exaggerated similes, ambiguous concepts, and adherence to the sonnet form, Shakespeare creates a parody of the traditional love sonnet. Although, in the end, Shakespeare embraces the overall Petrarchan theme of total and consuming love.

    Read More

  • Anne Bradstreet's Concept Of Marriage

    1276 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poet Anne Bradstreet highlights her feelings of love and overall affection towards her husband in her 16th century poem, “To My Dear and Loving Husband” (425). Set during a time were marriage was nothing more than convenience and politics, Bradstreet’s poem gives great insight into how the concept of love was prevalent even during a time were it was never the main motive for marriage. Looking into Bradstreet’s life, she had every reason to have ill will towards her husband and the concept of marriage, as she led a very arduous life typical of a 16th century woman. She nevertheless divulges her feelings and emotions into a beautiful love poem to her husband emphasizing every detail, as to why she loves him and could never be happier by his side (Bradstreet 425). These feelings and concepts of love in a marriage although uncommon in the past, have matured and evolved into a standard perception for marriage today. Many married individuals or those in the process of getting married can greatly relate to Bradstreet’s affection towards her significant other, “I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, Or all the riches that the East doth hold.”

    Read More

  • Gendered Identity in Seamus Heaney’s ‘Act of Union’

    528 Words  | 2 Pages

    The imposition of the British aggressor is even made apparent through the structure of the work, the two sonnet form stanzas not only highlight the inadequacy of the loveless union, but with their Shakespearean rhyme scheme also imply the cultural dominance of English tradition. The use of half rhymes, such as ‘pulse’ and ‘burst’ or ‘pain’ and ‘within’ leaves the stanzas feel...

    Read More

  • Similarities Between As You Like It And Twelfth Night

    1373 Words  | 3 Pages

    It is well known that Shakespeare’s comedies contain many marriages, some arranged, some spontaneous. During Queen Elizabeth's time, it was considered foolish to marry for love. However, in Shakespeare’s plays, people often marry for love. With a closer look into two of his most famous plays As You Like It and Twelfth Night or What You Will, I found that while marriages are defined and approached differently in these two plays, Shakespeare’s attitudes toward love in both plays share similarities. The marriages in As You Like It’s conform to social expectation, while the marriages are more rebellious in Twelfth Night. Love, in both plays, was defined as

    Read More

  • The Wife of Bath: Illustrating Courtly Love

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” is written in an entertaining and adventurous spirit, but serves a higher purpose by illustrating the century’s view of courtly love. Hundreds, if not thousands, of other pieces of literature written in the same century prevail to commemorate the coupling of breathtaking princesses with lionhearted knights after going through unimaginable adventures, but only a slight few examine the viability of such courtly love and the related dilemmas that always succeed. “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” shows that women desire most their husband’s love, Overall, “The Wife of Bath’s Tale” shows that the meaning of true love does not stay consistent, whether between singular or separate communities and remains timeless as the depictions of love from this 14th century tale still hold true today.

    Read More

  • The Pain and Suffering of "Twelfth Night" by William Shakespeare

    1326 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shakespeare’s play Twelfth Night revolves around a love triangle that continually makes twists and turns like a rollercoaster, throwing emotions here and there. The characters love each another, but the common love is absent throughout the play. Then, another character enters the scene and not only confuses everyone, bringing with him chaos that presents many different themes throughout the play. Along, with the emotional turmoil, each character has their own issues and difficulties that they must take care of, but that also affect other characters at same time. Richard Henze refers to the play as a “vindication of romance, a depreciation of romance…a ‘subtle portrayal of the psychology of love,’ a play about ‘unrequital in love’…a moral comedy about the surfeiting of the appetite…” (Henze 4) On the other hand, L. G. Salingar questions all of the remarks about Twelfth Night, asking if the remarks about the play are actually true. Shakespeare touches on the theme of love, but emphases the pain and suffering it causes a person, showing a dark and dismal side to a usually happy thought.

    Read More

  • Romeo and Juliet is Not a Love Story

    1002 Words  | 3 Pages

    William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was a Renaissance poet and playwright who wrote and published the original versions of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, and often called England’s national poet. Several of his works became extremely well known, thoroughly studied, and enjoyed all over the world. One of Shakespeare’s most prominent plays is titled The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. In this tragedy, the concept that is discussed and portrayed through the characters is love, as they are recognized as being “in love”.

    Read More

  • Essay on Gender in William Shakespeare's Sonnets

    1781 Words  | 4 Pages

    Much has been made (by those who have chosen to notice) of the fact that in Shakespeare's sonnets, the beloved is a young man. It is remarkable, from a historical point of view, and raises intriguing, though unanswerable, questions about the nature of Shakespeare's relationship to the young man who inspired these sonnets. Given 16th-Century England's censorious attitudes towards homosexuality, it might seem surprising that Will's beloved is male. However, in terms of the conventions of the poetry of idealized, courtly love, it makes surprisingly little difference whether Will's beloved is male or female; to put the matter more strongly, in some ways it makes more sense for the beloved to be male.

    Read More

  • Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

    1138 Words  | 3 Pages

    Also love today includes sex unlike courtly love. If a man kept pursuing a woman today to marry him and she continued to refuse the man would most probably give up on her, dissimilar to the courtly lover that would keep on trying. Shakespeare mocks the idea of courtly love in his play in his use of language, the characters and how they go in and out of their roles of courtly love. I aim to look at the plays moral, philosophical and social significance. Also I will analyse Shakespeare's stagecraft and appeal to the audience and to look at the patterns and details of words.

    Read More

  • Sonnets: The Power of Love

    1574 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shakespeare's sonnets are a romantic and charming series of poems. His use of rhyme and passionate, eloquent language serve to illuminate his strong feelings. These techniques were probably the most fluent way for such a writer as him to express the immeasurable love that he obviously felt for his mysterious lady. Examining the numerous ways Shakespeare found to describe it, the reader believes that this love was undoubtedly lasting and authentic. He often made heart-felt comments about his emotions that could also suit lovers in the present day. Because of this, and the fact that people read them yet, Shakespeare's sonnets are timeless and universal, just like the concept of love itself.

    Read More

More about Carol Anne Hathaway

Open Document