How Does Betjeman Use Satire In Shakespeare
John Betjeman and William Shakespeare: A Study of Satire and Metaphor
Generally there are several elements of poetry, for example, metaphor, persona, satire, and also language and form. However, in this essay, I’m going to focus more on the satirical and metaphorical aspect although, in a sense, the element of satire and persona share quiet a similar essence in which both showed the poet’s detachment with the persona in his poem. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica (2014), satire is defined as an artistic form, chiefly literary and dramatic, in which human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, parody, caricature, or other methods, sometimes with an intent to inspire social reform. Whereas in general, satire makes a subject look ridiculous in order …show more content…
to make a point (Myers-Shaffer, 2006). While a metaphor goes further than a comparison between two different things or ideas, by fusing them together: one thing is described as being another thing, thus ‘carrying over’ all its association (Hull, 2014). I.A. Richards (1936) presented the terms for the different parts of a metaphor: the ‘tenor’ is the subject of the metaphoric combination, while the metaphoric word, which ‘carries over’ its meaning, is called the ‘vehicle’.
In order to explain further of the function on thee concepts, I’m going to choose two specific texts which are, “In Westminster Abbey” by Sir John Betjeman (1946) and “Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare (1798). The first text, by Sir John Betjeman which is a bitingly satirical poem that was set during the World War II, illustrate an innuendo on those who believes themselves to be very upright as the members of the church, yet have far from the Christian instinct. The poet’s intention of writing this poem is believed to ridicule those with this mind-set as well as to illustrate to the audience that a person is not what they always appeared to be by using a woman from the upper-class to symbolise the society. While the second text, by William Shakespeare, is the best known and most overall adored of every one of the 154 sonnets. The strength of affection and its energy to deify the subject of the poet 's verse is the topic.
“In Westminster Abbey” begins with the lady, supposedly from the nobility, upon entering the abbey ask a permission, or rather, telling the God that she was going to take off her glove. Which could be interpre that the said lady is a fussy woman who always put herself first. That act, however, is rather ironic considering the fact that she went to church to pray to the Lord and yet such action was considered a bit arrogant because she seemed to be thinking of herself instead of her original intention. Here, the poet try to imply that the society of that time, especially the aristocrats, are rather overweening upon anyone.
In the next paragraph, the lady seemed to be praying for the Lord to actually bomb the Germans, in which the audience might find it to be a bit shocking and ludicrous, because she was a Christian and was praying to the Christian God and yet asked for something that was brutal although it is only natural for soldiers in war to pray for their safety and survival while on the other side, pray for their enemies to die. The next line, however, showed that instead of the lady asking for forgiveness, it is the God that she graciously offers to pardon. This ludicrously superior attitude of hers was more likely to give us a delectation with its silliness than to offend us with its blasphemy. In the last line of this paragraph --“Don’t let anyone bomb me”-- the poet illustrated, or rather mocked the readers of how an attitude that was so self-centred and selfish is actually so natural and universal simply because who would not make that prayer? The poet is well aware of the fact that such situation of a blitz, would have made anyone become so selfish
On the third stanza, it is shown that this lady to be blatantly a racist, –“Protect them Lord in all their fight,”—and also –“And, even more, protect the white.”— Because instead of genuinely praying the safety of everyone, she just reveal her true intention which is a bias, I must say, towards her own race. Moving on to the fourth stanza, the poet illustrate that the lady is summarising everything that the Lord should consider during the bombing, as if they are equally important because they are to her, as she implored to Him:
“Think of what our Nation stands for, Books from Boots and country lanes,
Free speech, free passes, class distinction, Democracy and proper drains.
Lord, put beneath Thy special care
One-eighty-nine Cadogan Square.”
The two last line suggest that she wanted the Lord to place a special care for what seems to be her home.
The fifth stanza suggests the lady’s complacency as she haggle for God’s special protection. This is because, even though she is the one seeking God’s aegis, she still have to try to squeeze in the “Evening Service” into her busy schedule and expect the Lord to save her a place among the saints in heaven. This stanza is rather ironic because that is exactly how human or people behave. The poet try to reflect on the similarity between the attitude of the lady towards God and us. Everyone wanted a place in heaven and God’s protection but refused to actually devout ourselves to Him.
The sixth stanza of this poem illustrate that the lady was being serious, though readers might still find her to be ludicrous to some extent, about her prayer. Although the first four line of that stanza suggests that she is ready to defend her land one way or another but the last line give it away. Perhaps it is an incentive to God in assuring a place for her in heaven. Whereas the seventh stanza of this poem depicts that the lady feels a little better after hearing God’s word, which readers might find rather ironical as she did all the talking and there is no such suggestion of any listening going on. The last line of this poem brings back the idea that God must realise that she is rather busy and so she rounds off her prayer with this line:
“And now, dear Lord, I cannot wait
Because I have a luncheon date.”
In “Sonnet 18”, the poet begins his poem by asking a question on whether he should compare his sweetheart to a summer day.
The line –“Shall I compare thee to a summer 's day?”-- itself is actually a metaphorical way of complimenting his sweetheart by comparing her to the summer day which is known to represent the youth. Then, the poet goes on to commends the darling, saying she is more exquisite than the most pleasant summer day, yet soon the cool winds of the autumn day will make the flowers fall. He also goes on explaining that summer doesn 't keep going long and so does one 's youth.
Next, he said that sometimes the summer days can be to hot and sometime it will get cloudy, then he naturally continues by saying that everything delightful in the end blurs by chance or by nature 's inexorable changes. Returning to the sweetheart, however, he contends that her beauty won 't go away, nor will her magnificence blur away by this line:
“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 ow’st”
In the last three lines, he concludes that even death cannot take away his beloved for she will forever be alive in his eternal lines (the poetry) as long as there are people reading this poem (Sonnet 18).
As a final point, in the first text by Betjeman, the satirical concept is used by the poet in order to criticise the society’s attitude. Of how ridiculous can these people, who claim themselves to be from the nobility and even a member of a magnificent church could get. Throughout his poem, Betjeman expresses the spurious of human natures which sometime could not be seen with the naked eyes. Furthermore, he also criticise those who ignorantly throw out a blasphemous remark, in a way that possibly would erupt a guilty laughter from the readers because blasphemy is a blameworthy pleasure. However, in the second text by William Shakespeare, the concept of metaphor is implied by the poet via a comparison of his sweetheart to the summer days. The poet then goes on complimenting his sweetheart by metaphorically compare, or rather, claiming how her beauty is greater than the nature’s beauty that is bound to fade over time. However, as his claim, she will forever be alive as long as there are people who read this poem. To put it in another way, the two texts that I have chosen is different to some degree due to the fact that both uses a different concepts in getting through the readers. Hence, proving that there are lots of concepts, with different function for every poet’s purposes, in order for the poet to communicate with the audience.
(1567 words)
References
Encyclopedia Britannica,. (2014). satire. Retrieved 11 November 2014, from http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/524958/satire#toc51144
Hull, S. (2014). Metaphor and Persona. Lecture.
Myers-Shaffer, C., & Myers-Shaffer, C. (2006). Barron 's SAT subject test in literature 2007. Hauppauge, NY: Barron 's.
Richards, I. (1936). The philosophy of rhetoric. New York: Oxford University Press.
Generally there are several elements of poetry, for example, metaphor, persona, satire, and also language and form. However, in this essay, I’m going to focus more on the satirical and metaphorical aspect although, in a sense, the element of satire and persona share quiet a similar essence in which both showed the poet’s detachment with the persona in his poem. According to Encyclopaedia Britannica (2014), satire is defined as an artistic form, chiefly literary and dramatic, in which human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, parody, caricature, or other methods, sometimes with an intent to inspire social reform. Whereas in general, satire makes a subject look ridiculous in order …show more content…
to make a point (Myers-Shaffer, 2006). While a metaphor goes further than a comparison between two different things or ideas, by fusing them together: one thing is described as being another thing, thus ‘carrying over’ all its association (Hull, 2014). I.A. Richards (1936) presented the terms for the different parts of a metaphor: the ‘tenor’ is the subject of the metaphoric combination, while the metaphoric word, which ‘carries over’ its meaning, is called the ‘vehicle’.
In order to explain further of the function on thee concepts, I’m going to choose two specific texts which are, “In Westminster Abbey” by Sir John Betjeman (1946) and “Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare (1798). The first text, by Sir John Betjeman which is a bitingly satirical poem that was set during the World War II, illustrate an innuendo on those who believes themselves to be very upright as the members of the church, yet have far from the Christian instinct. The poet’s intention of writing this poem is believed to ridicule those with this mind-set as well as to illustrate to the audience that a person is not what they always appeared to be by using a woman from the upper-class to symbolise the society. While the second text, by William Shakespeare, is the best known and most overall adored of every one of the 154 sonnets. The strength of affection and its energy to deify the subject of the poet 's verse is the topic.
“In Westminster Abbey” begins with the lady, supposedly from the nobility, upon entering the abbey ask a permission, or rather, telling the God that she was going to take off her glove. Which could be interpre that the said lady is a fussy woman who always put herself first. That act, however, is rather ironic considering the fact that she went to church to pray to the Lord and yet such action was considered a bit arrogant because she seemed to be thinking of herself instead of her original intention. Here, the poet try to imply that the society of that time, especially the aristocrats, are rather overweening upon anyone.
In the next paragraph, the lady seemed to be praying for the Lord to actually bomb the Germans, in which the audience might find it to be a bit shocking and ludicrous, because she was a Christian and was praying to the Christian God and yet asked for something that was brutal although it is only natural for soldiers in war to pray for their safety and survival while on the other side, pray for their enemies to die. The next line, however, showed that instead of the lady asking for forgiveness, it is the God that she graciously offers to pardon. This ludicrously superior attitude of hers was more likely to give us a delectation with its silliness than to offend us with its blasphemy. In the last line of this paragraph --“Don’t let anyone bomb me”-- the poet illustrated, or rather mocked the readers of how an attitude that was so self-centred and selfish is actually so natural and universal simply because who would not make that prayer? The poet is well aware of the fact that such situation of a blitz, would have made anyone become so selfish
On the third stanza, it is shown that this lady to be blatantly a racist, –“Protect them Lord in all their fight,”—and also –“And, even more, protect the white.”— Because instead of genuinely praying the safety of everyone, she just reveal her true intention which is a bias, I must say, towards her own race. Moving on to the fourth stanza, the poet illustrate that the lady is summarising everything that the Lord should consider during the bombing, as if they are equally important because they are to her, as she implored to Him:
“Think of what our Nation stands for, Books from Boots and country lanes,
Free speech, free passes, class distinction, Democracy and proper drains.
Lord, put beneath Thy special care
One-eighty-nine Cadogan Square.”
The two last line suggest that she wanted the Lord to place a special care for what seems to be her home.
The fifth stanza suggests the lady’s complacency as she haggle for God’s special protection. This is because, even though she is the one seeking God’s aegis, she still have to try to squeeze in the “Evening Service” into her busy schedule and expect the Lord to save her a place among the saints in heaven. This stanza is rather ironic because that is exactly how human or people behave. The poet try to reflect on the similarity between the attitude of the lady towards God and us. Everyone wanted a place in heaven and God’s protection but refused to actually devout ourselves to Him.
The sixth stanza of this poem illustrate that the lady was being serious, though readers might still find her to be ludicrous to some extent, about her prayer. Although the first four line of that stanza suggests that she is ready to defend her land one way or another but the last line give it away. Perhaps it is an incentive to God in assuring a place for her in heaven. Whereas the seventh stanza of this poem depicts that the lady feels a little better after hearing God’s word, which readers might find rather ironical as she did all the talking and there is no such suggestion of any listening going on. The last line of this poem brings back the idea that God must realise that she is rather busy and so she rounds off her prayer with this line:
“And now, dear Lord, I cannot wait
Because I have a luncheon date.”
In “Sonnet 18”, the poet begins his poem by asking a question on whether he should compare his sweetheart to a summer day.
The line –“Shall I compare thee to a summer 's day?”-- itself is actually a metaphorical way of complimenting his sweetheart by comparing her to the summer day which is known to represent the youth. Then, the poet goes on to commends the darling, saying she is more exquisite than the most pleasant summer day, yet soon the cool winds of the autumn day will make the flowers fall. He also goes on explaining that summer doesn 't keep going long and so does one 's youth.
Next, he said that sometimes the summer days can be to hot and sometime it will get cloudy, then he naturally continues by saying that everything delightful in the end blurs by chance or by nature 's inexorable changes. Returning to the sweetheart, however, he contends that her beauty won 't go away, nor will her magnificence blur away by this line:
“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 ow’st”
In the last three lines, he concludes that even death cannot take away his beloved for she will forever be alive in his eternal lines (the poetry) as long as there are people reading this poem (Sonnet 18).
As a final point, in the first text by Betjeman, the satirical concept is used by the poet in order to criticise the society’s attitude. Of how ridiculous can these people, who claim themselves to be from the nobility and even a member of a magnificent church could get. Throughout his poem, Betjeman expresses the spurious of human natures which sometime could not be seen with the naked eyes. Furthermore, he also criticise those who ignorantly throw out a blasphemous remark, in a way that possibly would erupt a guilty laughter from the readers because blasphemy is a blameworthy pleasure. However, in the second text by William Shakespeare, the concept of metaphor is implied by the poet via a comparison of his sweetheart to the summer days. The poet then goes on complimenting his sweetheart by metaphorically compare, or rather, claiming how her beauty is greater than the nature’s beauty that is bound to fade over time. However, as his claim, she will forever be alive as long as there are people who read this poem. To put it in another way, the two texts that I have chosen is different to some degree due to the fact that both uses a different concepts in getting through the readers. Hence, proving that there are lots of concepts, with different function for every poet’s purposes, in order for the poet to communicate with the audience.
(1567 words)
References
Encyclopedia Britannica,. (2014). satire. Retrieved 11 November 2014, from http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/524958/satire#toc51144
Hull, S. (2014). Metaphor and Persona. Lecture.
Myers-Shaffer, C., & Myers-Shaffer, C. (2006). Barron 's SAT subject test in literature 2007. Hauppauge, NY: Barron 's.
Richards, I. (1936). The philosophy of rhetoric. New York: Oxford University Press.