Claude Mckay, the personification and connection

The two sonnets I decided to choose are ‘America’, and ‘The City’s Love’. While these two aren’t exactly connected, the first one being a country, and the second one being a city, the two of them have very similar ideologies within them, with them being places of living that Claude Mckay personifies, and makes into women, similar themes, and nearly similar ways of phrasing. They both personify a place, and refer to them as a woman that does certain actions towards him, whether it be painful, good, or bad.

First, The City’s Love. This Sonnet begins with McKay referring to a special moment in time when the city’s grace sweeps across him, uncaring of his skin color. He then goes on to refer to himself as an ‘alien guest’ a foreigner of sorts, before suddenly personifying the city, turning it into a woman, one that bends down to him like a goddess, igniting the passion in his heart. This glimmer of hope and passion exceeds skin color, ethnicity, and everything above, acting as a love beyond everything. It’s, in a sense, a romantic-esque poem that writes about the beauty of common ground, and how it’s possible, no matter what.

America. The next sonnet by Claude Mckay starts off with ‘America’ being personified right away, with her feeding McKay what seems to be bitter bread, perhaps symbolizing something terrible. She then sinks her tiger-like tooth into his neck, perhaps a symbol the America’s death-like grip on him. However, after that, McKay suddenly changes his tone into an almost joyous tone, mentioning how he loves this cultured hell that tests his young body. He talks about how America’s vigor, its bustling melting pot of culture flows through him, causing him to stand against the hate (which we can correlate with prejudice and oppression) with sweeps like a flood. He stands in America without any sort of terror and malice but rather looks far ahead into the future to see something bright and hopeful, a priceless treasure it is. Most likely equality, common ground, perhaps a future (Beneath Time’s hand) where understanding reigns.

Claude McKay here, has created two poems of different places, but similar belief. The belief that underneath all the problems, underneath all the issues that lie in the world, there exists something beautiful, a haven for them. Whether it be for just the briefest moments, or in the far future, there exists a place before times (unerring hand) grasp that skin tone and ethnicity means nothing. There is only the individual, and what they do. – Edmund F.

In-class Blog Comments:

In groups of four, students will read the two blog posts below with the goal of revising their interpretations of the sonnet. Students will discuss specific aspects of the blog post that can be improved through further close reading. DO NOT simply praise the post or agree with it! Each student will then write their own comments (2-3 sentences) in that blog post’s reply box.

Begin with this blog post by Edmund: https://poetryintroduction.wordpress.com/2024/04/04/shakespeares-sonnet-and-the-classroom-performance/

And then this one by my former student: https://poetryintroduction.wordpress.com/2021/11/02/cohesion-and-neurosis/

Pretty and Ugly

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, “My mistress’ eyes are Nothing like the Sun”, meaning is enhanced by Catherine Tate’s classroom performance by mocking the traditional conventions of love in love poetry.

Throughout the sonnet, Shakespeare mainly relies on hyperbole and imagery to describe the love he has towards his mistress. Instead of comparing, the speaker contrasts her to nature. Traditionally, poets are likely to compare their lover to nature to complement their physical appearance and personality, however by the speaker doing the opposite, he’s stating he loves his mistress more than he loves his beloved, who possibly could be his wife. The overall situation is showing infidelity. How so? The biggest hint is this poem is about a mistress. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, there are numerous definitions, but one in particular states that a mistress is, “A woman other than his wife with whom a married man has a continuing sexual relationship.”  From what is observed through the sonnet is Shakespeare uses a lot of imagery to describe this mistress. He starts off with, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun.” (Shakespeare, Line 1). Just by calling her “mistress” the readers can identify that this ‘love’ poem isn’t the traditional love poem. The speaker is talking about an extramarital relationship, which in some perspectives, is considered unfaithful and absurd. He continues by stating, “eyes are nothing like the sun.” (Line 1) The sun is bright. From stating her eyes are not the sun, the speaker is indicating her eyes are not bright or shiny. So, is he claiming her eyes are dull? Isn’t this the opposite of a compliment towards a woman? It’s not the only example of imagery he provides, he continues with “Coral is far more red than her lips red;” (Line 2). For some, red lips are an attractive and beautiful feature in women. From stating, “Coral is far red than her lips-” (Line 2). He’s basically claiming her red lips are not as attractive or as vibrant as coral.  This is where hyperbole appears. The speaker becomes exaggerated when describing his mistress’ physical attributes, to make the differences more apparent between the beauty of nature and hers. The imagery gives readers a possible visual on how his mistress looks which isn’t really pleasing. He mentions, “If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun.” (Line 3). The era and place this sonnet were written in should also be considered since it will provide a deeper understanding on how these physical details are being negative. In England, precisely around the 1600’s, the whiter a woman was and the redder her lips were the more beautiful they were considered. In this case, this poem, is describing the complete opposite, it is a woman with dull eyes, light red lips, tannish breasts, and unruly black hair. Does it stop there? No. The speaker trails off to the color of her cheeks next, stating, “I have seen roses demasked, red, and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks.” (Shakespeare, Lines 5 and 6). A rose is the traditional symbol of love and beauty, to say that there are no such roses in her cheeks- Is he calling his mistress ugly?  Is he trying to humiliate her? Compliment her? Does he even love her? He even goes on to describing her breath, mentioning, “And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.” (Lines 7 and 8). He’s even saying her breath isn’t pleasant and stinks. There is exaggeration happening with these lines since he’s stating some perfumes are better to smell than her breath, but why is he saying this? The things he says are quite horrendous, however by stating such things, the speaker is giving his mistress her place. He’s seeing her as who she is and is not describing her with common nature comparisons love poems give when describing their lovers. That’s how Shakespeare mocks traditional love poems. Though it’s ugly, the speaker is demonstrating that his mistress’ beauty is one of a kind, and something that popular attributes that most love poems use cannot describe.

How is this whole meaning enhanced by Catherine Tate’s classroom performance though? When Catherine portrayed that insolent school girl, her attitude was very hideous from the start. Though Shakespeare was more physically descriptive, not too much on behavior they can still be connected in the aspect that both the sonnet and Catherine’s character showed a type of ugliness. She uses the poem as a way to threaten her teacher. She was very aggressive and quick when she recited it enforcing that point. Why though? Why did she use the poem? She transformed the poem’s meaning by literally breaking the beauty ideals in poetry. Even though Shakespeare’s sonnet was quite ugly with its various examples of vivid contrasting imagery, surely, he didn’t want his poem to be read in such a harsh and quick manner, so by Catherine reciting the poem in such a tone and pace, it makes the ugliness stand out more within Shakespeare’s sonnet, “My mistress’ eyes are Nothing like the Sun.”

-Claudia Dominguez

Shakespare sonnet

Shakespeare’s sonnet, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun,” has 3 quadrants and one couplet at the end two lines. The turn happens before the couplet with the speaker saying: “and yet..” There are many things going on in this sonnet. The speaker starts off saying how the mistress doesn’t have bright eyes. Many people would compare another’s eyes to the sun for how bright and loving their eyes are, but here the eyes are not compared to the sun. The speaker starts body shaming her saying how her breasts are a dull brown color and not white as the snow. In the first two quadrants, the speaker focuses on more of her body, which he doesn’t find pleasant. He mentions how her cheeks are red, meaning there is no love coming from her. He compares her hair to wires and doesn’t find her looks appealing. In the third quadrant, he starts admiring her voice, but still says how “music hath a far more pleasing sound,” (line 10). 

To answer the question, Catherine Tate performed it with a lot of passion. She used hand gestures and had a fast pace tone when reciting the sonnet. During the skit, Catherine was rambling on and complaining how the teacher is Scottish and not British because she believes that you have to be British to teach an English class. She then abruptly starts reciting the sonnet. The teacher says at the end that another rose wouldn’t be the same as current rose meaning you can’t compare the two, which is stated in the end of the sonnet: “as any she belied with false compare.”

Gurranvir Kaur

The Mockery of Rules

The main manner in which Catherine Tate’s student character mirrors the format of Millay’s sonnet would be in the manner in which both seek to undermine an established power. In the case of Tate’s character, she rebels against the English teacher and recites Shakespeare’s poem in a rushed manner thus eliminating the rhythmic pattern which would typically be heard by the readers which is similar in the manner in which Millay’s poem disregards the need to keep a consistent flow, since in some lines, the manner in which one reads may be consistent, almost lyrical, but is then interrupted by the harsh pause of a break in the form of – or a period, most evidently in lines 6 through 8. Something else of note that also represent the going against established rules, would be found in the structure of the poem rhyming scheme, since the 14 lines would make a person think that Millay’s poem would be a sonnet, the scheme is not represented in the sonnet manner which follows a ABAB CDCD format, instead the poem went ABBC CDDA, this also alienates itself from the Italian sonnet form of ABBA ABBA. The clashing of rhythms and lack of question and therefore answer in I Will Put Chaos into Fourteen Lines parallels the manner of conduct that the student portrays since the student character, just like the poem, jumps from one thought to another without regards to any relation they may have. In addition to this thought, the only instance in which both the poem and student fall in line with the rules, it would only be done if there was some mockery going on, such as the student keeping the gag of Doctor Who going on, and the poem joke about how poem declares that chaos has finally been controlled via rape, thus giving it some shape.
Isaac Ruiz

Shakespeare and comedic enhancement

Shakespeare’s Sonnet revolves around him belittling a woman, due to the differences in her actions and what he believes a woman should be doing. While ultimately still showing love for her despite those differences. This idea is further enhanced within the BBC comic relief video. Catherine Tate and David Tate both provide amazing performances that aid in improving many aspects of Shakespeare’s sonnet. Catherine’s character is more lively while still encompassing the “Dull” characteristic that’s described in the original sonnet. Often interrupting the class and making snide comments about the teacher as he desperately tries to move the conversational topic back to Shakespeare himself. Eventually, this leads to the teacher confronting the student, much like how Shakespeare confronts the women for acting improperly. The student then proceeds to perfectly and passionately recite Shakespeare, during which he sees some shock and slight hints of respect come from the teacher’s facial expressions. We can interpret this to be the other idea within Shakespeare’s sonnet that despite the many imperfections there is still love for the person. Finally, the confrontation between the two ends with the teacher transforming the student into an action figure and continuing the lesson. Overall the comedic skit serves well to present the idea despite what could be deemed as “flaws” love and admiration can still be seen within a person. Despite Catherine Tate’s character being portrayed as rude or annoying, we notice that the character has an extremely in-depth understanding of Shakespeare, being able to recite it flawlessly and connect its themes to a real-life situation. The Skit enhances the theme by connecting it outside of the simple idea of politeness and beauty, but rather connects the theme to the characteristics of intelligence and wit, and how they can be present within characters who might not act in those ways at face value.

– Eduardo Ojeda Jr

Interpretation of Beauty Ideals

William Shakespeare is a poet who when thought about we think of love and undying passion. His sonnet “My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun”, follows the proper format with three quadrants and ends with a rhyming couplet. The tone of his sonnet compared to his other poems has a tone of irony, the opposite of the eternal love poems that we are used to him writing. Dominant themes in this sonnet include a male speaker expressing their love/lust for a woman. Quite seemingly objectifying her physically and spiritually. However, when reading the last two lines of the poem, “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she belied with false compare” (lines 13-14) I realized that the poem doesn’t talk about objectifying a woman. Rather the topic is that women shouldn’t fall under beauty ideals.

Now answering the question if the meaning of Shakespeare’s sonnet was transformed or enhanced by Catherine Tate’s classroom performance. I believe that it was transformed because at first, the poem seems to be calling the speaker’s mistress plain, “I have seen roses damasked, red and white, but no such roses see I in her cheeks” (lines 5-6). Especially since the speaker is a man, that detail further reasons that he is simply comparing women to beautiful symbols and placing her beneath them. Yet when Catherine read the sonnet with an angry and loud passion, the sonnet for me was transformed. That loud passion and fast rapid pace gave it an uplifting tone as if she rejected those comparisons and beauty ideals. I felt it more empowering for women when she read those metaphorical lines with a disregard for them. Since already in the video she seemed to not care for Shakespear, she chose the perfect sonnet to prove that she disregards what he tries to portray.

The sonnet written by Shakespeare and Catherine’s interpretation has one overall similarity that makes either way read correctly. The similarity is that they both reject the beauty ideals that women “have” to fall in. Through Shakespeare’s last rhyming couplet, we as readers understand that his love wasn’t rare, it was simply real because he didn’t care that his mistress didn’t look perfect rather to him she already was. For him, this sonnet would’ve been read in a slow pace and softer tone just as the rest of his poems. However, Catherine read the sonnet with confidence and pride as if the comparison she read were beneath her and all women, ultimately rejecting beauty ideals.

~Jeshua Rocha

Shakespeare’s Sonnet and the Classroom Performance

To really get a deeper look into this, let’s first look at the sonnet by Shakespeare, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun.” First, the one thing we must remember is that this will follow the Shakespearean format of three quatrains before suddenly hitting a turn, and having to rhyme couplets, GG. Next, there are a couple dominant themes, with the main ones being a male speaker expressing love or lust to a heavily idealized female subject, sexuality/sensualness, and multiple forms of love (religious, spiritual, psychological). Now, let’s look through the sonnet itself.

As we slowly look through Shakespeare’s sonnet, it’s clear that we aren’t exactly leaning into the dominant themes of love and idealization, but rather, an ironic opposite. The first three Quatrains are of heavy rhetorical/mocking themes, as he mentions how his mistress’s eyes are nothing like a sun, which is an often ‘romantically compared feature,’ nor is his mistress’s breasts dull while snow is white. This comparison lasts for the first three quatrains before the turn happens. You see, right before this ends, Shakespeare, at the ‘turn’ section of his sonnet suddenly states that all these false comparisons are silly. I believe he’s essentially stating that why compare someone with perhaps, wires? Or in most romantic stories/poems/audio/sonnet/etc, snow, rose, and so on.

Now, to answer the question, how is the meaning of this sonnet transformed by Catherine Tate’s performance? Catherine Tate begins the start by rambling on and on with her teacher, consistently making remarks about him being Scottish, not born in England, and so on. However, after careful back and forth, almost like the comparisons made in Sonnet 130’s first three Quatrains, the table is suddenly turned, and Catherine begins to recite the Sonnet quickly and accurately without a hitch. At the end, Mr.Logan mentions something about a rose by any other name that would simply smell just as sweet. While I’m not entirely insightful on this part, to me, it narrowly relates to Sonnet 130’s last line, ‘with false compare.” That line for Shakespeare means that regardless of what his Mistress is compared to, she’s still the most beautiful individual in his eyes, which I could feel relates to the part where Mr.Logan says, “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

One thing of interest as well is how Catherine believed that Logan couldn’t teach English due to his heritage, which I thought could’ve correlated with how many individuals saw Shakespeare’s poetry as elitism, akin to what Catherine believes about English – a language that could only be taught by someone born in England. Perhaps, while the main structure of the sonnet relates to the skit, in the end, Shakespeare’s poem is about how even without comparisons one is still the most beautiful in his eyes, the skit is more alongside the lines of harsh contrast. – Edmund F.

Interpretation of Catherine Tate

Whenever you think of poetry you typically think, of William Shakespeare. His content focuses on romance and his dying love. In the video, Catherine Tate, a student who ends up disrupting the classroom with her antics, within her performance of the sonnet she appears to be more angry and passionate. She demonstrates a strong knowledge of Shakespeare as she talks about the stereotypes that Shakespeare covers. At times it felt that she was speaking in a fast-paced manner, and very aggressive. However, I was able to notice the number of hand gestures that she did which to me, meant that she was VERY passionate and into the sonnet. 

Within the first line, he demonstrates the importance of a “mistress”, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips’ red;” (Lines 1 and 2). Whilst reading these lines I noticed that Tate appears to lack the compassionate feeling that I feel Shakespeare was trying to portray. Once again, he romanticized his writing although she seems to be more agitated than anything. I also noticed the colors that Shakespeare incorporated into his sonnet, “Coral” and “her lips’ red”. Typically your lips are more of a neutral color than anything, it was interesting to me that he compared lips to something like coral. To me, it seems as if he is just simply admiring his lover. 

I felt that the sonnet itself and Tate’s reading had some similarities although the tone that Tate had within the reading did not feel like the tone that Shakespeare would have wanted the sonnet to be read. Shakespeare is a loving person and to me, it felt that it would’ve been read with more of a softer tone and slower pace rather than something more aggressive which is what Tate did.

Yue Wu-Jamison

The Smart Aleck

In Shakespeare’s Sonnet, he appears to demoralize a woman because she is not the exact way he thinks a true woman should act. Although he expresses his love for her and her” imperfections,” he only states this at the very end and comes to a summarized statement stating that “yeah she has a bunch of flaws and is very “DULL,” but I still love her. “

After re-reading the poem several times and watching the video, the skit enhanced the poem entirely. In the poem Shakespeare wrote, his sonnet describes her as dull, but I’d like to think Catherine’s depiction was of a schoolgirl with a sharp mouth, who might see her as the class clown. She was very fierce and did not back down. Instead, she tried challenging the teacher for the fun of it. Although she might have been perceived as a nuisance, she was nowhere near dull. When I think of the word fierce, I associate it with red. Because being ferocious is an intense emotion that would resonate with a more vibrant tone, although she was joking around and not severe in Catherine’s skit, she showed an understanding of Shakespeare despite her being a smart aleck; she recited it with much passion, which shocked the teacher himself. In Shakespeare’s sonnet, it’s as if there is still some love behind all the imperfections. He is stating regardless of her imperfections he loves her regardless. I think it could be seen as a slight shift in interpretation. At the end of the skit, the teacher turns her into an action figure, which doesn’t equate to love because it portrays an annoyance on his end. At the same time, this skit gave a visual representation of what Shakespeare saw in his eyes: someone deemed annoying, but you can’t help but love her because she also had intelligence. One line resonates significantly with me. Lines 8-10: “Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks./I love to hear her speak, yet well I know/That music hath a far more pleasing sound; I found this to resonate with the skit since Catherine was portraying a student with sharp muth giving the teacher a hard time, and this could be why he does not see her as goddesses because, especially given the time, it was men hated when a woman had a voice or a sharp mouth and relatively associated that trait as an unwanted woman.

Victoria Sasere