by Junkets » Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:30 pm
[quote="MonroeDoctrine"]
The reason why Shakespeare is garbage when it is not done in its specific context is because the artist's intention is utterly destroyed!.[/quote]
Lordy! Now, that is a grand statement said with conviction. Do you mean historical context? If so, I am troubled. Regardless of my confusion as to how we could know Shakespeare's intention for his works (bearing in mind he was a jobbing writer not a god), how can they be garbage if removed from this context? Isn't it the words he wrote that provide the interest rather than the social and historical climate of the time that they were written?
[quote="MonroeDoctrine"]
That's why I think that if someone wants to understand Keats' poetry one must relive what Keats was doing. And one can have an insite into who he was. DON'T IGNORE THE HISTORICAL FIGHTS OCCURING DURING KEATS' LIFE! Take the time to know the context Keats was in.[/quote]
Another curious statement. Do you really believe that Keats cannot be understood in any way, on any level unless the reader relives what Keats was doing and has some insight to the political upheavals of the age? Could this be a little (dare I say it) elitist? I'm not discounting the possibility that I may have misunderstood what you meant, but what I understand so far is that unless a reader of Keats has a particularly in depth knowledge of the 19th century they can not understand it. Am I wrong? Please say I am.