Shakespeare’s Love of Italy

Good Morning Readers:
 
William Shakespeare was born in 1564.  He lived during the reign of the last Tudor monarch, Queen Elizabeth 1.  Her reign was from 1558-1603.  It was a time of exploration into new worlds, and discoveries of new cultures.

Many of Shakespeare’s plays were set in Italy, despite never having visited the country himself.  He was inspired by the Italian Renaissance during the 1500’s; Italy was seen as a far away and exotic country.  It was a place of new trends in art, science, culture and of course, architecture.  Shakespeare set some of his plays in the Italian cities of Verona, Rome, Florence, Venice, Padua and Sicily and the island of Sicilia.

The Italian character was seen as passionate and romantic and fierce.  These were qualities that Shakespeare felt would fit well with his plays which told stories of love, passion and tragedy.  Shakespeare had many friends, some of whom had travelled there, and possibly he knew some merchants,  with whom he discussed the culture and the lifestyles of Italy.  This is how he got to know Italy and its culture. Italy was not a country during this time.  It consisted of various kingdoms, duchies and republics often in conflict over power, politics and religion.

Indeed, the inspiration for Sonnet No. 116 and Shakespeare's other sonnets (154 of them), came from the English context of being influenced by the preceding Italian Renaissance. Shakespeare's signature style of his sonnets was inspired by courtly customs in the Elizabethan era of English history.  Yes, Shakespeare taught us a lot.  We need to look deeper into his work and analyse it, to get to know Shakespeare himself.  He was, indeed a bit of an enigma.  

I want to leave you with another of my favourite Sonnets.  Shakespeare was certainly a philosopher of life.

Sonnet No. 116
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.

If you can attend a Shakespearean play, you will get to know a true Elizabethan playwright and poet, and you will be thirsty for more.

Best wishes,
Anne

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