For our first assignment, we read some of Shakespeare's sonnets, some directly assigned, and some we chose to look at. I was surprised to stumble upon one that I recognized...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WOFLpmDbIs
But after I had recovered from my shock, I remembered that one of the things Marianne and Willoughby had in common was a love for Shakespeare's sonnets.
Shakespeare. He's everywhere, but that's okay. If he adds a little more potency to the romance's in Austen's work, I don't mind one bit. If his presence there confirms the well-known fact that Shakespeare has been well-known for a long time (Austen wrote it a good while ago, but the movie isn't that old, and Shakespeare speaks with power in both the book and movie)... then that's still just fine with me.
