Difference between revisions of "1026: Compare and Contrast"
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The last line in a sexual reference, on the "thee" side, not on the "summer's day" side. | The last line in a sexual reference, on the "thee" side, not on the "summer's day" side. | ||
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| + | In Shakespeare's day, English had informal pronouns and formal pronouns, thee and thou (informal), and you (formal). This is similar to what is still used today in Spanish (and other languages) with usted being formal, and tú being informal. {{w|English personal pronouns#Full list of personal pronouns|Wikipedia}} has a nice chart for all of English's personal pronouns, current and archaic. | ||
Sonnet 18 is not about a woman but rather addressed to a young man (sonnets 1-126 are), the rest of them is addressed to a ‘dark lady’. | Sonnet 18 is not about a woman but rather addressed to a young man (sonnets 1-126 are), the rest of them is addressed to a ‘dark lady’. | ||
Revision as of 18:13, 16 August 2012
| Compare and Contrast |
 Title text: Frankly, I see no difference between thee and a summer's day. Only Ron Paul offers a TRUE alternative! |
Explanation
This comic is a reference to the sonnet by William Shakespeare, which as far as I can tell, is called "Sonnet 18" in which the first line is: "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?". And that is what Randall is attempting to do here in his own way, comparing who I assume is his special lady friend to a "Summer's Day". The first line is a reference to the sonnet itself, which reads: "Thou art more lovely and more temperate". Shakespeare woos women with sonnets and Randall with charts. This certainly seems to be a love letter (love comic? love chart?) to one specific person (Megan?) because not too many people have been arrested for releasing snakes in the library. (At least I hope so.)
The last line in a sexual reference, on the "thee" side, not on the "summer's day" side.
In Shakespeare's day, English had informal pronouns and formal pronouns, thee and thou (informal), and you (formal). This is similar to what is still used today in Spanish (and other languages) with usted being formal, and tú being informal. Wikipedia has a nice chart for all of English's personal pronouns, current and archaic.
Sonnet 18 is not about a woman but rather addressed to a young man (sonnets 1-126 are), the rest of them is addressed to a ‘dark lady’.
And of course, the title text is a reference to Ron Paul, Republican candidate for President who is currently in the Republican Primary against a few other challengers for the nomination. Ron Paul is frequently represented on the internet using similar language to the image text. Paul is seen as an alternative because he is a strict Libertarian and believes the government should be as small as possible and stay out of people's lives. People who support Ron Paul believe him to be the only true alternative to the other Republican candidates currently in the race.
No politics in the comments please, let's stick to the comic, please! Thank you.
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refresh comments!Discussion
Commenter J. Curwen posted a link to a modern paraphrasing of Sonnet 18. I think it would be appropriate to repost it here. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/18detail.html lcarsos (talk) 17:58, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
Shakespeare woos Randall with charts? Holy ambiguous dependent, Batman! - Frankie (talk) 12:47, 26 January 2013 (UTC)
I prefer to believe that thou art in fact harbinger of hurricane season, and a major cause of heatstroke in the elderly ;) PotatoGod (talk) 05:26, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
Are we sure that Sonnet 18 is *the* most famous sonnet? Is opening the explanation in this way a subtle reference to xkcd 1368 ("one of the most recognisable arches in St. Louis")? 172.70.90.92 04:47, 12 January 2024 (UTC)
