Sonnet 18 in ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’

Have you ever watched Star Trek? It was such a nice TV episodes, right? What more interesting about this TV episode was it applied the artistic value in the show and storyline. I was so impressed when the episode that related to the starship style could ever use a poem as apart of the storyline. 

“The Schizoid Man” 

By Tracy Torme and Gene Roddenberry. Perf. Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, and Brent Spiner. Dir. Les Landau. 

Star Trek: The Next Generation. Season 2, episode 6. 

Syndicated television. 23 January 1989. DVD. Paramount, 2002.

Shakespeare's sonnets appear in Star Trek episodes with startling frequency. Captain Picard freely delivers the last couplet of Sonnet 18; Captain Kirk was obliged to recite Sonnet 57. In the episode, he does so to express his knowledge that someone else's brain has been downloaded into Data's head (Data's head will give life to that second brain as long as it lives). Yes, I am aware. Weird.

But that is simply the couplet's outward meaning in this situation. The most important portion (and the part that's becoming an overarching thesis about Shakespeare's use in Star Trek) is that Shakespeare's words assist humanity to better comprehend itself. "So long lives this," in this imagined science fiction setting, is wrapped up with the futuristic setting. Shakespeare's words have stood the test of time, and humanity will stand the test of time as well.

Here's the full sonnet follows it.

XVIII - Sonnet 18

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date:

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade

Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;

Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou growest:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Sonnet 18 is a poem in which Shakespeare praises his beloved's beauty and describes all the ways in which it is better than a summer day. The overriding topic of this poem is love's stability and its potential to immortalise someone.

"Sonnet 18" is one of the most well-known of the 154 sonnets written by William Shakespeare, an English playwright and poet.

In the sonnet, the speaker wonders if he should compare the young man to a summer's day, but then adds that the young man possesses traits that are superior to those of a summer's day. He also points out that the characteristics of a summer day are prone to change and will fade over time. The speaker goes on to say that the young man will live on in the poem's verses for as long as it can be read. This sonnet has an irony: it is the description of the young man contained in the poem that will be immortalised, and the poem offers scarce or no descriptions of the young man, instead vivid and lasting descriptions of a summer day, which the young man is meant to outlive. 

Little did I know here is that William Shakespeare produced many beloved writings, including Sonnet 18 in which he compared his love to a summer's day. Now I realised how rich he was with his artistic talent. 

To our knowledge of this popular culture topic, 'Sonnet' 18 had been included in English Language Syllabus in Malaysia Secondary School around year 2000. Cool, isn't it? 😎😎

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 141 in '10 Things I Hate About You'

For this entry, I have another highlight on the popular culture of Sonnet by William Shakespeare. This time the one of his poems was presented in one of my favourite movie entitled "10 Things I Hate About You'. I'd watched this and so in love with the story. But I'm not going to talk about the film. It is the poem presented here that I want to share about. 

 "Ten Things I Hate About You"

Dir. Gil Junger. Perf. Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger. 1999. 

DVD. Walt Disney Video, 1999.

The aspect of the film that I liked the most this time around was the way it cast practically everyone in it as a caricature, emphasising how Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew plays with stereotypes. Padua, like Padua High, is riddled with misconceptions that are (for the most part) debunked during the play.

I noticed the use of sonnets this time around, probably because I've been blogging about sonnets on Bardfilm recently. Before giving his students an assignment, the teacher reads the first four lines of Sonnet 141 ("In faith, I do not adore thee with mine eyes") in the video below. Kat (Julia Stiles) is known for giving the teacher a hard time, which is why he reacts the way he does. After Heath Ledger's deception (which he now regrets) is revealed, the clip transitions to the completion of the task. The film's title appears to be derived from the poem (which appears to list thirteen things the narrator despises about the addressee):

Here are the two versions of the poem:

Sonnet 141 (Derivative Version)

I hate the way you talk to me,

And the way you cut your hair.

I hate the way you drive my car.

I hate it when you stare.

I hate your big dumb combat boots,

And the way you read my mind.

I hate you so much it makes me sick.

(It even makes me rhyme.)

I hate the way you’re always right.

I hate it when you lie.

I hate it when you make me laugh—

Even worse when you make me cry.

I hate it when you’re not around, and the fact that you didn’t call.

But mostly I hate the way I don’t hate you—not even close, not even a little bit, not even at all.

Sonnet 141

In faith, I do not love thee with mine eyes,

For they in thee a thousand errors note;

But 'tis my heart that loves what they despise,

Who in despite of view is pleased to dote;

Nor are mine ears with thy tongue's tune delighted,

Nor tender feeling, to base touches prone,

Nor taste, nor smell, desire to be invited

To any sensual feast with thee alone:

But my five wits nor my five senses can

Dissuade one foolish heart from serving thee,

Who leaves unsway'd the likeness of a man,

Thy proud heart's slave and vassal wretch to be:

Only my plague thus far I count my gain,

That she that makes me sin awards me pain.

The 141st of William Shakespeare's 154 sonnets is referred to as Sonnet 141. The poet's physical senses and brains (intellect) on the one hand, and his heart on the other, are the sonnet's central focus. The mental faculties of common sense, imagination, fantasy, instinct, and memory are referred to as the "five wits." The sonnet is one of those in which the poet's heart is enamored with something despite what his eyes see.

Shakespeare explores his aspirations for the woman in Sonnet 141, which are at odds with what his senses tell him. Despite the fact that he is aware of her physical defects and dislikes her voice, smell, or touch, his heart is entirely charmed by her. In the poem, his attention on sense is excessive, but his senses can't keep him from loving her. He feels that he is a slave to the misery he experiences as a result of loving her.

I love the way people put the poem into culture make it popular in present. 😉😉

Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 in 'My So-Called Life' series

I love to watch TV and movie. I enjoy watching any kind of TV series and films but I could be more interested when the production of it related to our daily life. The things that caught I eyes and attention now are the Shakespeare's poems that had been published on TV and movie. 

One of them is the Sonnet 130 which was published in TV series entitled My So-Called Life. 

“Self-Esteem.” 

By Winnie Holzman. Perf. Bess Armstrong, Wilson Cruz, and Claire Danes. Dir. Michael Engler. 

My So-Called Life. Season 1, episode 12. 

ABC. 17 November 1994. DVD. Bmg Special Product, 2002.

The usage of a Shakespeare sonnet in the Shakespeare Retold's Much Ado About Nothing to stress and analyse themes in an already-Shakespearean plot reminded me of similar uses of sonnets in other situations.

My So-Called Life left a generation of viewers wanting more after only 19 episodes. However, the characters cover a lot of emotional terrain in the first season, which is sombre and moving. We see young people navigate the truth of the flawed self in Episode 12, "Self-Esteem," using a renowned poem as a guide.

In this way, Sonnet 130 ("My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun") is applied to the storey structures of My So-Called Life. I don't claim to understand the complexities of the Jordan/Brian/Angela love triangle. However, it is evident from the video that the two guys recognise something about the woman they have been idealising.

While it's not precisely accurate to argue that Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 is "about" a "gross" lady, a part of me cringes when Jordan realises he's in love with Angela because of this sonnet. Leto does a superb job of telegraphing Catalano's slow comprehension of what the poem signifies as well as his inability to completely express it in the Episode 12 sequence where the class meets Sonnet 130.

The major point of Sonnet 130 is to criticise poets who employ excessive hyperbole in their descriptions of love. The use of hyperbole and cliché may be traced back to ancient Greek and Roman poetry. In both literature and art, it was a convention during the Elizabethan age — and the royal court.

Here is the sonnet in question and the dialogue that follows its reading:

Sonnet 130

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;

Coral is far more red than her lips' red;

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;

If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.

I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,

But no such roses see I in her cheeks;

And in some perfumes is there more delight

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 grant I never saw a goddess go;

My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:

And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare

As any she belied with false compare.

Here's the discussion from the scene:

Mr. Katimski: What kind of girl is Shakespeare describing here? Is . . is she the most beautiful girl?

Brian: No.

Mr. Katimski: Is she a goddess? Mmm? Physically perfect? The kind of girl who stops traffic when she walks down the street?

Brian [with a slight chuckle]: No.

Mr. Katimski: So he's not in love with her?

Jordan [barely audible]: Yeah. [Then louder:] He is.

Mr. Katimski: Well, and why is that? Why is he in love with her? What is it? What is it? What is it about her?

Brian: She's not just a fantasy. She's got . . . like . . . flaws. She's real.

Mr. Katimski: Thank you.

It seems to be a popular culture, right? 😊😊