Othello

Personally, I wasn't extremely excited when I heard that we had to read something by Shakespeare. I have read a couple of his other works and I have just always been slightly intimidated by the way he writes. It is challenging for me to understand. After starting Othello, I think that I became less frightened. I am not sure why, but I think that I can understand his writing a little better now. I can't comprehend every little piece, but I believe that I can grasp the gist of the story. One thing that I did pick up on was the difference between the two Iago's. When is is trying to impress someone or be formal with them, Shakespeare made him speak poettically. Otherwise, when Iago is talking to Roderigo informally, Iago speaks in prose. This just further emphasizes how Iago is being two completely different people.

That Time of Year

Old English has always been a challenge for me along with things written by Shakespeare. I looked up some analysis on this poem because it was hard for me to understand. I could see that it was about winter and death, but the analysis let me know that it was about a man's youth dying. I re-read the poem, and it makes more sense because I think I read over the line, "That on the ashes of his youth doth lie." This poem is about how time ages the body. Youth is something that is cherished but it doesn't last forever. I think that colors also help get this point across. The yellow leaves represent the man's bright and happy youth while the black night is ominous and is going to take the man's youth away from him.

My Mistress' Eyes

"Your eyes sparkle like the stars above at night."



Seriously? Do these kinds of statements really impress the ladies? I find saying like these to be trite and cheesy because there is no possible way that they could be true. After realizing that Shakespeare wasn't being rude in this poem, I started to see the truth in his words. If some body's eyes were really like the sun, they would be hard to look into. Also, would a man really like a woman with skin as white as the snow? These are unrealistic things that probably wouldn't be attractive even if they were true. This poem satirizes people who write things like this in literature. This use of satire is helps the sarcastic tone of the poem stick out. When I first read the poem, I read it with a kind of harsh tone, but at the end when I realized what Shakespeare was doing, I re-read the poem in a sarcastic tone and it made much more sense.