The Meta-Sonnets Podcast = A New Way to Read Shakespeare's Poetry

Shakespeare's Sonnets is a famous and beloved piece of writing, but, in the view of this podcaster, the work is misunderstood and only about half as good as it can be, if a reader knows what to look for. This podcast will explore The Sonnets on three levels:

Level 1: The 154 poems group perfectly in an 11x14 Meta-Sonnet structure. This means that there are 11 groups of 14 sonnets and each sonnet functions as a line within a larger sonnet. Furthermore, these 11 sections group into 5 acts (with the first 3 sections forming Act 1 and each subsequent Act is 2 sections long). Regardless how readers interpret The Sonnets, they will notice that thematically similar sonnets almost always group neatly into Meta-Sonnet quatrains and couplets. They will also see that narrative arcs start and stop neatly within their sections and acts. Reading the poems in this way enables readers to make connections that would otherwise be invisible.

Level 2: There are three main characters in The Sonnets: the Poet, the Fair Youth, and the Dark Lady. Many readers see these characters as real people who lived 400 years ago and nothing more. That's fine, but there's plenty of textual evidence that the Fair Youth can also be a personification for poetry/the work itself (not a new idea) and the Dark Lady can be seen as a personification of the Sonnet Format/Renaissance Poetic Conventions/Meta-Sonnets. As such, in this view, The Sonnets is not the private love poems of bi-sexual playwright. Rather, it is a critical examination of the relationship between poet, poetry, and form. Other interpretations are perfectly valid, but this is new way to enjoy the work. Importantly, readers need to see the Meta-Sonnets to full appreciate this interpretation of poems.

Level 3: Assuming Level 1 and Level 2 are true, astute readers will have some serious questions. Maybe they won't and they can just connect the Meta-Sonnets to their existing ideas, but, for others, they will want some answers and rightfully demand an explanation. For example: how could this have happened? Why would Shakespeare have done this? If it's too perfect to be random, why did Shakespeare create Meta-Sonnets and not tell anyone? Honestly, I have no secret knowledge about Shakespeare, but I do have the text. Sonnet 43 (and Act 2 in general/the Second Season of this Podcast) is the best place to go for answers, but there are clues in other sonnets too. In short, the text leads me to believe:

1. Shakespeare invented Meta-Sonnets and wrote about them in the work.
2. He intentionally kept them a secret.
3. He knew that seeing them would double the reading pleasure.
4. If Sonnet 43 was an early sonnet (many scholars believe yes), then that suggests that Shakespeare always intended for The Sonnets to have secret Meta-Sonnets.

These Three Levels are very different. Most readers can easily accept the First Level and many readers are comfortable with the Second Level. The Third Level, however, is scary. Many might even suggest off-putting or ridiculous, and, without a doubt, it is controversial. Fair enough. If readers want to ignore the Third Level, that is fine, but it does not discredit the first two. Having said that, I will explore all three in the podcast.

All Episodes

The Meta-Sonnets Podcast = A New Way to Read Shakespeare's Poetry

The Meta-Sonnets Podcast Reboot

October 22, 2024 • Reagan Peterson • Season 2 • Episode 9

0:00 | 5:33

Send us Fan Mail

I've decided to change the name of the podcast.

1. The Meta-Sonnets Podcast is a much better name
2. I wanted to get "secret" out of the title

www.sonnetspodcast.com
sonnetspodcast@gmail.com

The Meta-Sonnets Podcast Reboot

Hello Shakespeareans. Normally, I’d say welcome back, but that’s a strange thing to say here because, after serious consideration, I’ve decided to make a change. As such, I’m going to rename and rebrand the podcast. Going forward, the new name is: The Meta-Sonnets Podcast. I suppose it’s a bit peculiar to make this change mid-season, but I don’t care.

There are two reasons I’m giving the podcast a new name. The first is that I love the term Meta-Sonnet. To be honest, I’ve always struggled with what to call my idea. Obviously, I’ve toyed with “the Structure,” “the Secret Structure,” and “The Secret Five Act Structure.” While none of these is incorrect, I think Meta-Sonnet is a cleaner name.

Recently, I was playing with ChatGPT and I asked it a question? Does Shakespeare’s Sonnets work as eleven sections of fourteen sonnets with each sonnet functioning as a line within a larger sonnet? Well, the answer was yes for parts of the work. ChatGPT definitely felt that Act 1 and Act 5 were clearly meta-sonnet sections. The rest, not so much. Obviously, I have answers and opinions on the rest and this was just a computer’s response, but it is funny. ChatGPT said I was both right and wrong. So, critics and supporters alike can both say I’m either vindicated or debunked.

Either way, ChatGPT defined this idea as a “Meta-Sonnet,” and this was an amazing moment for me. First, the word was perfect and second, I checked the internet. This is the first use of the word Meta-Sonnet in this way. In other words, ChatGPT coined this term, which in itself was a weird moment because ChatGPT isn’t supposed to be able to create but rather imitate. However, this feels like a creation to me. After a deeper dive, it seems meta-sonnet has been floating around, but it’s never been used in this way.

Most importantly, I believe this is a perfect word to describe the main idea of this podcast because I have always struggled with vocabulary. Meta-Sonnet tells listeners so much and it’s easy for me to incorporate. As such, I want to start using it immediately. The next nine episodes are already scripted. It’s not too much work to edit them, so they will immediately make this switch. The ideas will still be the same, but the branding, the vocabulary, and the podcast name will be different.

As such, I want to also give you the second reason I made this switch, and that’s because I wanted to get the word “secret” out of the title. I have learned that this is a horrible word to use with Shakespeare. Thanks in large part to the Authorship Question Controversy, many Shakespeareans are incredibly skeptical of new ideas and were rejecting my podcast sight unseen, and, honestly, I can completely understand this.

If you’ve listened to multiple episodes, you know that I do think Shakespeare intentionally created Meta-Sonnets and hid them. There’s no denying this. However, putting the word “secret” in the title of the show turned off too many listeners. To the best of my ability, I am a serious academic and I want my ideas to be considered and debated. In my day job, I am a high school literature teacher. To be clear, even though much of this podcast is too advanced for my students and this is a different medium, my presentation is the same. Unfortunately, the word Secret undermined my goals and made it too easy for me to be discarded as a nut job writing fan fiction. I fully realize that many of my ideas are controversial, and let’s be clear: I made Season 2 because I wanted to present many of my most controversial ideas. I can live with the consequences, but the old title was more problematic than it was helpful.

So, I’m making a change. At this point, it’s too much work to go back and alter the earlier episodes. So, they will stay as is. However, this change is permanent and I’m very happy with the decision.

So, dear listeners: Welcome to the Meta-Sonnets Podcast where we discuss a new way of reading Shakespeare’s Poetry. See you next time.