GETTING EXCITED ABOUT SHAKESPEAREAN SONNETS! 10 ideas for Stage 4 or 5 students Kate Eliza O’Connor, St Scholastica’s College

was initially apprehensive about introducing head”) — while this poem does not specifically refer to Shakespeare’s sonnets to my Year 8 mixed-ability the Dark Lady, it discusses the author’s inability to see I English class. Would the language barrier be too his beloved as the rest of the world does and the sense great? Were the emotions that Shakespeare describes of confusion created by his mistaken views. too distant or adult for students to relate to? We were in Since I teach a mixed-ability class, I tend to see group the middle of studying Susan Cooper’s King of shadows work as an opportunity to use differentiated tasks and (1999), a time-travel novel set in Shakespeare’s London generally allocate groups according to either ability in 1599. I had been inspired by watching a recent level or preferred learning style. !e following activities episode of Doctor Who (‘!e Shakespeare code’) , in mostly relate to Sonnet 147 and can be completed in which the Doctor’s travelling companion is transported small groups. Sonnet 147 deals with the intense and all- to Elizabethan England, wooed by Shakespeare through consuming passion of the author for an elusive lady who fleeting references to the Dark Lady and farewelled in is described as being “black as hell”. !e author is seen as the form of Sonnet 18 . Although the sonnets are thought being “frantic mad” with passion and devoid of all reason to have been composed between 1592 and 1597, and as a result of his frenzied, feverish obsession: King of shadows thus before the period covered in , I My love is as a fever, longing still thought they could be used as bite-sized examples of For that which longer nurseth the disease, Shakespeare’s work for my students to enjoy and respond Feeding on that which doth preserve the ill, to in different ways. !’ uncertain sickly appetite to please. In addition to this, I have always found the Dark Lady My reason, the physician to my love, poems to be particularly interesting and accessible. !e Angry that his prescriptions are not kept, mystery surrounding the Dark Lady and the sardonic Hath left me, and I desperate now approve tone of the sonnets gives them a quirky element that Desire is death, which physic did except. leaves many questions unanswered. Shakespeare’s portrayal of the darker side of love is surprisingly modern Past cure I am, now reason is past care, and creates a vivid portrait of a mysterious character. And frantic mad with ever more unrest. While I concentrated mainly on Sonnet 147 with my My thoughts and my discourse as madmen’s are, class, the following sonnets can also be used with Stage 4 At random from the truth vainly expressed; or 5 students: For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright, • Sonnet 127 (“In the old age black was not counted Who art as black as hell, as dark as night. fair”) — a reflection on the beauty of “raven black” !ere are a lot of strong images in this poem: the dark eyes that laments the “bastard shame” of slanderous madness of the lover, the doctor whose advice is not taken, comments against dark beauty and the elusive “dark as night” beloved who is initially seen • Sonnet 130 (“My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the through rose-coloured glasses. sun”) — in which the author goes against the grain of sonnets that wax lyrical about the beauty of the beloved, Suggestions for Introducing the mocking the clichéd statements made about beauty Dark Lady Poems to Stage 4 • Sonnet 131 (“!ou art as tyrannous, so thou art”) — Students a poem which laments the “black” deeds done by the Dark Lady and reflects upon her unusual beauty The following ideas can be applied to individual or group work, and many apply to poetry in general rather • Sonnet 144 (“Two loves I have of comfort and than Shakespearean sonnets in particular. I used most despair”) — this poem links up well with the themes of these ideas in group work over about four lessons by and ideas in Sonnet 147, discussing the dichotomous allocating groups according to different learning styles. nature of passionate love through the use of angel/ Our study of the poems was only intended to be a brief devil binary opposites introduction to their central themes and motifs rather • Sonnet 148 (“O me! What eyes hath love put in my than a unit in itself.

28 English Teachers’ Association of NSW GETTING EXCITED ABOUT SHAKESPEAREAN SONNETS! 10 ideas for Stage 4 or 5 students

1. Beats and emotions 3. Talks with a psychologist/talkshow After an initial read of the poem and an explanation of person/talkback radio script the salient themes and language devices, students can More able students can be given a range of Dark Lady work in groups to break the poem up into ‘beats’ as they sonnets to read as the background for this activity. would a playscript. A ‘beat’ denotes a shift in the action of Using the form of either a psychologist’s interview or a atmosphere of a text, giving the actors an indication of the talkshow format (with both characters as guests) or a divisions between different parts of a scene. By breaking talkback radio call from either the poet or the Dark Lady, up the poem into either emotional or thematic beats (after students can compose a script in groups and perform the listing the range of emotions and themes that are present in interview for the class. !e results can be surprisingly the poem), students can compare their understanding of the humorous and show a perceptive and melodramatic poem and explore different ways of reading it. interpretation of the feelings and thoughts discussed in the poems! 2. Sonnet strolls around the school When I was completing my pre-service teacher education 4. Visual representations of the in drama at the University of Sydney, we conducted a sonnet characters — stereotypes stroll whereby groups of students would select one sonnet, My students produced some colourful and insightful find an area of the campus for an outdoor performance and representations of the madman based on evidence from dramatise the sonnet. Pairs of students can find a favourite the poem (including baggy eyelids from “ever more sonnet, discuss who the characters in the sonnet are, divide unrest”). !ey were able to draw on stereotypes of the up the lines of the sonnet and perform it to the class or lovestruck victim and produce representations of the to another class in different areas of the school. Although sane and irrational sides of the poet’s nature. (I suspect the emphasis is placed on performance rather than the poet’s character gained a whole life of his own in their interpretation, this can be very amusing and lead to some representations, but they were engaged with the sonnet interesting insights about the sonnets. and had some interesting interpretations of it.) mETAphor • Issue 1, 2008 29 GETTING EXCITED ABOUT SHAKESPEAREAN SONNETS! 10 ideas for Stage 4 or 5 students

5. Characters meeting in a chatroom a) choose lines from several of the Dark Lady poems that or agony aunt letters express different aspects of the Dark Lady and find graphics that symbolise the nature of her character Students often love responding to each other’s writing in a meaningful way. Getting students to write agony aunt b) find graphics from the internet that symbolise the letters (possibly in modern English) detailing the lover’s main themes of one of the sonnets and justify the issues with his beloved, before swapping them with other relationship between the graphics and the poem students who will write the agony aunt’s response, is a c) find references to darkness and light in the Dark fruitful exercise. Another possibility is asking students to Lady poems and select visuals that relate to this compose a short chatroom transcript between the poet theme. and a wise friend (the physician) offering him advice about his love life. 9. Entries comparing some of the feelings experienced by the character 6. Rewriting sonnets in different forms and relating them to other characters !ere are a few different ways of doing this: merely in books, films, music translating the sonnets into modern or colloquial language may be a useful exercise for students who are A liberal humanist justification for studying Shakespeare argues that his works study universal still learning to read Elizabethan language. For students themes and thus maintain their relevance. Without who have a good understanding of the main themes entering into that debate, finding related texts from a in the sonnets, they can rewrite one as a monologue modern context can provide a means for students to or a song lyric (perhaps to the tune of a popular song) discuss and question the relevance of Shakespeare’s to present to the class. By briefly covering some of the work to modern society. features of different text types before asking students to compose their texts, teachers can touch on the notion 10. Finding a song/poem that tells the of appropriation and ask students to reflect on how and if the meaning of the poem is changed as a result of the character’s story different language choices they have made. After having explored some of the emotions that dominate the Dark Lady sonnets, students can search 7. From the Dark Lady’s point of view for parallels in popular culture. Firstly, students should have thought about the poet’s relationship with the Relating to ideas 2 and 6 above, exploring the perspective Dark Lady — is it unrequited love? Destructive passion? of the Dark Lady provides a means of talking about gaps Or is he merely able to see his beloved’s shortcomings and silences in the sonnets. Discussing courtly love as in a rational manner and in opposition to the false a background to the sonnets (which both perpetuate compare of many literary constructions? Finding song and contradict traditional notions of courtly love) and lyrics that relate to the complex nature of the poet’s the lack of information we receive about the Dark reaction to the Dark Lady (or the Dark Lady’s seemingly Lady’s personality, students can compose a creative perverse attitude to the poet) is a good chance for text (possibly in the form of a diary entry or a letter to students to explore the notion of related texts and to the poet) that discusses her experiences. !ese creative use texts of their own choosing as stimulus material to texts can be presented to the class in conjunction with reflect on the poems studied by the class. In addition, either a dramatic reading of the poem or a translation/ showing the Doctor Who episode to students can appropriation of the sonnet. be a good way to explain the idea of allusions and intertextual references. 8. Symbols and visuals Shakespeare’s sonnets are surprisingly accessible for Juxtaposing poetry with visuals can be a fruitful exercise junior students and can be studied in a short period that allows students to reflect on the meaning of poems of time or in relation to other texts. Most importantly, and the way they interpret this meaning as readers. there are so many ways of making the sonnets Programs such as Word or Publisher 2007 can be used to interesting to students — I had some wonderful easily superimpose text on graphics, paste different layers conversations with my class about Sonnet 147 and they of graphics from the internet and manipulate the way were very intrigued by the “frantic mad” intensity of the that graphics appear on the page. Students can: poet’s emotions!

30 English Teachers’ Association of NSW