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The Meta-Sonnets Podcast = A New Way to Read Shakespeare's Poetry
The Meta-Sonnets Podcast = A New Way to Read Shakespeare's Poetry episodes
- The Meta-Sonnets Podcast Rebrand
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During Season 2, I will rebrand the podcast with a new name. Until then, enjoy the earlier episodes as you see fit.
www.sonnetspodcast.com
[email protected]2 min - Sonnet 45 - Once Skippable, Now Interesting
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The main idea of this poem is that the poet feels sad because Section 4 is breaking off from the 4442 format. It used to be a highly skippable sonnet, but now it's worth examining because we can see it in context.
www.sonnetspodcast.com
[email protected]18 min - Sonnet 44 - Who is the Intended Audience of this Poem?
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To whom is this soliloquy directed? The poems? The Secret Structure? The Audience who knows about the Secret? Maybe all three. In this episode, we'll ponder: who is Shakespeare talking to and what does that mean?
www.sonnetspodcast.com
[email protected]15 min - Sonnet 43 - 30 year old Shakespeare's Winking Proclamation
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Sonnet 43 is Shakespeare's most under-appreciated poem. It reveals:
1. That the Secret Structure exists.
2. That it was meant to be a secret.
3. That readers will enjoy The Sonnets a whole lot more if they understand the Secret Five Act Structure.
4. If this was an early sonnet (which multiple scholars have suggested), then this indicates that the Secret Structure was always Shakespeare's intention.www.sonnetspodcast.com
[email protected]43 min - Sonnets 1-42 Overview (Act 1)
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In this episode, I will explain how the first 42 sonnets function as a three part one act play.
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[email protected]32 min - The Best 14 Sonnets No One's Ever Understood
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Historically, Sonnets 43-56 have mostly been misunderstood and skipped. However, there are genius if looked at as a single unit. In this episode, I reveal what you can find if you know what to look for.
www.sonnetspodcast.com
[email protected]24 min - Season 2 Trailer - What is Act 2?
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This season I will cover my favorite part of The Sonnets: Act 2 or Sonnets 43-70. In this short episode I will tell you why - because Shakespeare's idea are both genius and highly entertaining!
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[email protected]8 min - 6 - Professional Wrestling
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What was Renaissance theater really like? And what might this tell us about Shakespeare?
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[email protected]19 min - 5 - Tinfoil Cap Conspiracy Theories
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Why would Shakespeare have wanted to keep his Structure a secret? In this episode, we'll explore four possible theories.
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[email protected]24 min - 4 - Pink Floyd, Dorothy, and the Gilded Age
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The middle third of this episode is a long quote. If you want to skip it, I get back on track at 21:15.
Is the Secret Structure random or intentional? I use the Wizard of Oz as an example.www.sonnetspodcast.com
[email protected]32 min
About The Meta-Sonnets Podcast = A New Way to Read Shakespeare's Poetry
From the publisher's feed
Shakespeare's Sonnets is a famous and beloved piece of writing, but, in the view of this podcaster, the work is misunderstood and only about half as good as it can be, if a reader knows what to…
look for. This podcast will explore The Sonnets on three levels:
Level 1: The 154 poems group perfectly in an 11x14 Meta-Sonnet structure. This means that there are 11 groups of 14 sonnets and each sonnet functions as a line within a larger sonnet. Furthermore, these 11 sections group into 5 acts (with the first 3 sections forming Act 1 and each subsequent Act is 2 sections long). Regardless how readers interpret The Sonnets, they will notice that thematically similar sonnets almost always group neatly into Meta-Sonnet quatrains and couplets. They will also see that narrative arcs start and stop neatly within their sections and acts. Reading the poems in this way enables readers to make connections that would otherwise be invisible.
Level 2: There are three main characters in The Sonnets: the Poet, the Fair Youth, and the Dark Lady. Many readers see these characters as real people who lived 400 years ago and nothing more. That's fine, but there's plenty of textual evidence that the Fair Youth can also be a personification for poetry/the work itself (not a new idea) and the Dark Lady can be seen as a personification of the Sonnet Format/Renaissance Poetic Conventions/Meta-Sonnets. As such, in this view, The Sonnets is not the private love poems of bi-sexual playwright. Rather, it is a critical examination of the relationship between poet, poetry, and form. Other interpretations are perfectly valid, but this is new way to enjoy the work. Importantly, readers need to see the Meta-Sonnets to full appreciate this interpretation of poems.
Level 3: Assuming Level 1 and Level 2 are true, astute readers will have some serious questions. Maybe they won't and they can just connect the Meta-Sonnets to their existing ideas, but, for others, they will want some answers and rightfully demand an explanation. For example: how could this have happened? Why would Shakespeare have done this? If it's too perfect to be random, why did Shakespeare create Meta-Sonnets and not tell anyone? Honestly, I have no secret knowledge about Shakespeare, but I do have the text. Sonnet 43 (and Act 2 in general/the Second Season of this Podcast) is the best place to go for answers, but there are clues in other sonnets too. In short, the text leads me to believe:
1. Shakespeare invented Meta-Sonnets and wrote about them in the work.
2. He intentionally kept them a secret.
3. He knew that seeing them would double the reading pleasure.
4. If Sonnet 43 was an early sonnet (many scholars believe yes), then that suggests that Shakespeare always intended for The Sonnets to have secret Meta-Sonnets.
These Three Levels are very different. Most readers can easily accept the First Level and many readers are comfortable with the Second Level. The Third Level, however, is scary. Many might even suggest off-putting or ridiculous, and, without a doubt, it is controversial. Fair enough. If readers want to ignore the Third Level, that is fine, but it does not discredit the first two. Having said that, I will explore all three in the podcast.
Level 1: The 154 poems group perfectly in an 11x14 Meta-Sonnet structure. This means that there are 11 groups of 14 sonnets and each sonnet functions as a line within a larger sonnet. Furthermore, these 11 sections group into 5 acts (with the first 3 sections forming Act 1 and each subsequent Act is 2 sections long). Regardless how readers interpret The Sonnets, they will notice that thematically similar sonnets almost always group neatly into Meta-Sonnet quatrains and couplets. They will also see that narrative arcs start and stop neatly within their sections and acts. Reading the poems in this way enables readers to make connections that would otherwise be invisible.
Level 2: There are three main characters in The Sonnets: the Poet, the Fair Youth, and the Dark Lady. Many readers see these characters as real people who lived 400 years ago and nothing more. That's fine, but there's plenty of textual evidence that the Fair Youth can also be a personification for poetry/the work itself (not a new idea) and the Dark Lady can be seen as a personification of the Sonnet Format/Renaissance Poetic Conventions/Meta-Sonnets. As such, in this view, The Sonnets is not the private love poems of bi-sexual playwright. Rather, it is a critical examination of the relationship between poet, poetry, and form. Other interpretations are perfectly valid, but this is new way to enjoy the work. Importantly, readers need to see the Meta-Sonnets to full appreciate this interpretation of poems.
Level 3: Assuming Level 1 and Level 2 are true, astute readers will have some serious questions. Maybe they won't and they can just connect the Meta-Sonnets to their existing ideas, but, for others, they will want some answers and rightfully demand an explanation. For example: how could this have happened? Why would Shakespeare have done this? If it's too perfect to be random, why did Shakespeare create Meta-Sonnets and not tell anyone? Honestly, I have no secret knowledge about Shakespeare, but I do have the text. Sonnet 43 (and Act 2 in general/the Second Season of this Podcast) is the best place to go for answers, but there are clues in other sonnets too. In short, the text leads me to believe:
1. Shakespeare invented Meta-Sonnets and wrote about them in the work.
2. He intentionally kept them a secret.
3. He knew that seeing them would double the reading pleasure.
4. If Sonnet 43 was an early sonnet (many scholars believe yes), then that suggests that Shakespeare always intended for The Sonnets to have secret Meta-Sonnets.
These Three Levels are very different. Most readers can easily accept the First Level and many readers are comfortable with the Second Level. The Third Level, however, is scary. Many might even suggest off-putting or ridiculous, and, without a doubt, it is controversial. Fair enough. If readers want to ignore the Third Level, that is fine, but it does not discredit the first two. Having said that, I will explore all three in the podcast.