02/18/15

The reason for finding similarities of the two pieces of literature, Ray bradbury’s novel Dandelion Wine and William Shakespeare’s poem Sonnet 73, is to help the reader understand the relationship between the two works. The authors both symbolize the memories of one’s past, changes in season, and processes of the world that undergo the author’s perspective in life. The similarities showcase the direction that both authors believe all paths lead to, death. Both Bradbury and Shakespeare believe in death, aging, and loving. The similarities in theme between Sonnet 73 and Dandelion Wine is that they both present the idea that mortality is real and that the younger self once inside, dies from age, life is inseparable from death, and showing the fact that love conquers all.

Shakespeare and Bradbury symbolically relate their ideas to emphasize the reality that life is inseparable from death. Shakespeare uses metaphors of of sunsets, and the consumption of death to state his belief that life will end. In Sonnet 73, Shakespeare depicts a sunset to showcase the day coming to an end, “after sunset fadeth in the west.” The sunset’s used as a metaphor to show how death takes over. Shakespeare relates death to have another chance at life by living for eternity at rest, “Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest.” Also, Shakespeare allows his beloved’s to perceive his exact thoughts towards the reality of death, by showing that death has, “Consumed with that which it was nourished by.” Death, in many ways takes over, death takes the life that has given life itself through the showing of reality. Shakespeare has related his poem to symbolize the reality of death through metaphors that show that life ends. Similarly, Bradbury uses chapters in his novel to emphasize the reality of death through Douglas’s great-grandmother, Great-Grandma Spaulding, an ancient, perfect old woman, who’s happy with who she is and happy with the world she lives in. In Dandelion Wine, Great-Grandma Spaulding explains to Douglas that she’s, “tasted every victual and danced every dance; now there’s one last tart I haven’t bit on, one tune I haven’t whistled.” She explains how it’s her time to go, and it’s her time to have her sun set like in Sonnet 73. Bradbury presents a sense of stubbornness in Great-Grandma Spaulding when she tells Douglas, “Death won’t get a crumb by my mouth I won’t keep and savor.” Bradbury’s novel shows death through through his ideas to inflect the reality that life doesn’t last forever. Like in Sonnet 73, death was consumed by it’s nutrients in other words killed by what made it alive. In Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine, Great-Grandma Spaulding has finally let go to where, “the sea moved her back and down the shore,” the sea being a metaphor like the sunset in Sonnet 73. Therefore, both authors represented death becoming reality due to the similarities in both author’s ideas through metaphors and the death of loved ones.

Both authors share a similar idea by symbolizing the process of aging through their works. Bradbury represents the process of aging through an elderly woman, Mrs. Bentley, and Shakespeare represents aging through changes in season, which all “die in their own way, in “that time of year… when yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang.” Shakespeare uses fall becoming winter to depict the tree’s age and emphasize the leaves changing color. Then there is no more leaves because fall has aged away. He infers the fact that aging can come and take away the sense of life. Shakespeare refers back to his younger self when he sees in himself, “the glowing of such fire, to where he could understand how much he’s grown as a person from age. He sees in himself “the ashes of his youth,” which lie on a “death-bed whereon it must expire.”  Shakespeare can look onto his younger self, that will become his older self, that has put out the fame that once glowed inside. Similarly, in Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine, he relates his idea of aging through Mrs. Bentley, an elderly woman who keeps memories of her past and  love collectables. Bradbury presents aging through Mrs. Bentley’s realization that she isn’t young anymore, “I’m old enough and cold enough; the hottest day wouldn’t thaw me.” Like Shakespeare, Mrs. Bentley refers back to her younger self, “Needless to say, I was ten myself once and just as silly.” Mrs. Bentley remembers her past life as a child and has realized she has aged sixty years, and her younger self has died like Shakespeare’s poem.  Like Shakespeare, Bradbury  realizes through his characters that the youth  will die after old age has taken over. Mrs. Bentley’s realization shows the vastness of how truly old she is, “she may have been a girl once, but was not now. Her childhood was gone and nothing could fetch it back.” Bradbury has related to Shakespeare by taking a woman and making her realize that she is not young anymore. Therefore, both authors have related their ideas of the process of aging by symbolizing the realizations that people can’t live forever and age takes over.

Shakespeare and Bradbury present their ideas symbolically through their works to support the embodiment of loving. Shakespeare shows through his poem that if possessions are taken for granted, people miss what’s truly important in life; love. Shakespeare distributes this idea towards the end of his poem when he perceives the true reason for possessing any symbol of affection, “which makes thy love more strong.” Shakespeare depicts the thought that anything can go away sooner than thought, so it’s important, “to love that well,” because, “thou must leave ere long.” Shakespeare supports the embodiment that love is worth cherishing through a presentation of his perspective towards the idea of love. Similarly, Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine relates to Sonnet 73 by using Helen Loomis, a ninety-five year old woman who had an adventurous life, to share her beliefs of the love that she shares with Bill Forrester, is the greatest love. This is a love that can only be cherished with the little time they have left. Mrs. Loomis explains to Bill that because of their age difference, that he can’t live past fifty, “because there is no telling when another Helen Loomis might be born.” Bradbury represents the embodied symbol of love to emphasize the little time that they have left together, “if you lived on to be very, very old and some afternoon in 1999 walked down Main Street and see me standing there, aged twenty-one.” Mrs. Loomis knows that she has to cherish her little time like in Sonnet 73, because it will be taken away when Shakespeare and Mrs. Loomis die. Therefore, Shakespeare and Bradbury unify their ideas by distributing their symbols of love that are shown through Shakespeare and Helen Loomis.

    Thus, both authors represent their similar ideas through their literary works that help the reader understand the author’s point. Death, love, and age, all symbolize the direction of what the author’s want to lead to. Due to the fact that both author’s theme; mortality is real and that the younger self dies inside the old, because life is inseparable from death, and love being the strongest of all nature; is so close in relation, it helps to unify the two works as one, to perceive the similarities. Through the death of Great-Grandma Spaulding and the metaphorical sunset, fire, and second-self, death is known to always take over life. Through Shakespeare’s and Mrs. Bentley’s realizations of the reality in their youth being destroyed, they realize that aging will occur no matter what. Through Mrs. Loomis’s and Shakespeare’s relationships, love can beat any force from its power, but it must be cherished because it’s quick to disappear. The two works of literature came together as one, and allowed reader to understand the author’s point, life and love can be taken away in an instant, savor the time because aging can also be the consumer of death.