Shakespeare wrote three quatrains, but each part strengthens the whole by disclosing “mankind’s interconnection with nature” (Paglia 4). According to Paglia, the final couplet explains the evanescence of things man craves, but nonetheless, they still contain value because “life’s transience intensifies its pleasures” (6). Furthermore, Paglia closes with the idea that humanity is affected by abstract forces, such as nature, rather than God and the afterlife; consciousness is defined by basic qualities, and humanity will always be “reabsorbed by nature” (7). By interpreting Shakespeare’s poem through a variety of approaches, Paglia informs her readers of the poem’s historical background, its formalistic qualities, its archetypal features, as well as its philosophical connotations. With these interpretations, she demonstrates how much meaning can be gathered from a short, yet comprehensive
Shakespeare wrote three quatrains, but each part strengthens the whole by disclosing “mankind’s interconnection with nature” (Paglia 4). According to Paglia, the final couplet explains the evanescence of things man craves, but nonetheless, they still contain value because “life’s transience intensifies its pleasures” (6). Furthermore, Paglia closes with the idea that humanity is affected by abstract forces, such as nature, rather than God and the afterlife; consciousness is defined by basic qualities, and humanity will always be “reabsorbed by nature” (7). By interpreting Shakespeare’s poem through a variety of approaches, Paglia informs her readers of the poem’s historical background, its formalistic qualities, its archetypal features, as well as its philosophical connotations. With these interpretations, she demonstrates how much meaning can be gathered from a short, yet comprehensive