I don’t know how many people experience white knuckles when they are in the dentist’s chair. I have never had a painful experience at the dentist, yet my fear is real so I have the death grip on the armrest. From the moment I open my mouth till the moment I leave I can’t relax. There is probably a term or phobia that can explain my fear of the Dentist. The reason I’m bringing this up is I have the same reaction to Shakespeare.
Our reading assignment this week was Shakespeare’s sonnet; Let Me Not to the Marriage of True Minds. I was pleasantly surprised how ordinary this poem was written, there was no Shakespearean language that needed to be deciphered. The theme of the poem is obvious. The metaphors were uncomplicated and somewhat easy to figure out. So maybe my exposure to Shakespeare in High School was a misrepresentation of his works. Being called upon to read poetry randomly in front of a classroom from a textbook is cruel and usually punishment. I now know the person needs to be prepared and understand the words and context of the poem. There is hope; I’m not scarred for life, poetry can be enjoyable. Thanks
Submitted by Kate Misler
I absolutely love your reference to the fear of the dentist chair and Shakespeare. I oddly enough like going to dentist but understand the point you were making and feel the same about poetry. Even though i did enjoy reading some of the poems, especially by classics such as Whitman, Poe and Shakespeare, I did not like analyzing them and writing summaries on them. To me it was like how others must feel about the dentist. Again, great analogy. I laughed as read this!
ReplyDeleteHAHA, I really liked your comparison to the dentist! I too get a little intimidated when the word Shakespeare is brought up only because the language is so diverse, so in depth. To me I'm always worried if I am reading deep enough and if I understand the emotion the way I should. This particular sonnet made me just feel. no complications, just feel. i liked that. :)
ReplyDeleteKate - I loved your introduction, and how you compared your fear with going to the dentist to that of reading Shakespeare. I do not know anyone who likes going to the dentist. I too had a similar experience in high school when I was traumatized with our lesson on Shakespeare. I remember dreading going to class, and could not wait until it was finally over. I could not believe and was utterly surprised that I actually could understand Shakespeare now and in fact enjoyed it.
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