LTEL 170C - Essay #1 Double Entendres

Darlene McCoy
Michael Ursell
LTEL 170C - Shakespeare
9 October 2011

Shakespeare's Spirit

Scholars attribute William Shakespeare's Sonnets as the embodiment of his spirit through the flow of his pen. Double entendres found in the text expand the amount of meanings his verse can produce and enhance the wit of his work. The word "spirit," encountered twelve times as a noun in The Sonnets, connotates more meanings than those derived at first glance. Specifically, in Sonnet 86 "spirit" found on line five, once in the singular, and once in the plural, produces at least three different meanings, which in turn produces three different interpretations.
A first interpretation developed by Shakespeare's choice of words constructs the idea that "spirit" may be synonymous with "wit" - meaning one's ability to write poetry. The words "verse" and "write" further edge on the reader to interpret the line in this way, for they are associated with the act of writing. Line 5, "Was it his spirit, by spirits taught to write" invokes the image of the Muse, a spirit, as a bestower of wit. Furthermore, the phrase "above a mortal pitch" implies that the wit is above that of human capacity, moreso divine, and thus only available because the Muse bequeathed it upon a mortal. Referring to the spirit, the lines continue, "No, neither he, nor his compeers by night / Giving him aid, my verse astonished." The Muse visits her mortal during the night, and this association only bolsters the idea that "spirit" is synonymous with "wit." If the reader of Sonnet 86 interprets the word "spirit" in this way, the poem depicts a man who is so sure of his love for a beloved that the power the Muse may bestow upon his rivals does not alarm him in the least.
A second interpretation of the word "spirit" in Sonnet 86 may elicit a darker reading of the poem. A "spirit" is a supernatural being or personality frequently conceived as troublesome, terrifying, or hostile to mankind. The word "tomb" provides for the morbid atmosphere of this reading. The phrase "above a mortal pitch" implies that one is no longer mortal, which could possibly mean that they are a spirit returning from the dead. The emergence of the word "dead" at the end of the line aids in the creation of the idea of a spirit returning from the dead. The word "ghost" found in line nine further implies that an apparition of some sort visits the speaker's rival poets. Why an apparition, though? What's so wrong with rival poets praising the beloved? It is possible that Shakespeare is trying to imply that the "intelligence" gulled to his rivals is an intelligence born of something foul, such as lust. If the reader finds himself reading Sonnet 86 through this interpretation, he finds himself reading a poem about a man whose words shatter under the power of lust, for his beloved looks upon those lustful words more than his own.
A third interpretation of the word "spirit" extracts yet another reading from Sonnet 86. This reading, a bit indelicate, takes on a sexual meaning. The first word to cue a reader in on this reading is "womb," - an important participant in sexual reproduction. "Spirit," in this reading, may mean the ability of one to perform sexual acts. The "spirits" in this reading may be the rival poets that the beloved has learned his "spirit" from. The word "familiar" found in line nine hints that the relationship between the beloved and his visitor(s) may be intimate, thus implying sexual. Line ten, "Which nightly gulls him with intelligence," suggests more innuendo. The word "gull" means to to devour voraciously, and the fact that the visitor is gulling him with intelligence might imply that the visitor is giving him intelligence in the form of sexual performance by indulging in his own desires. If the reader finds himself dabbling in the indelicacies of this interpretation, he reads a poem about a man who fears not what his rivals can do for his beloved sexually, but who is distraught when his beloved goes to them for sexual favors.
These three interpretations of Sonnet 86 are examples of the many different ways a poem can be read, and what a double entendre can do for the overall meaning of a poem. They are also examples of the great care Shakespeare took in choosing his words, and of his everlasting wit. May his spirit live forever in each man that reads his lines!