{"id":10927,"date":"2012-06-24T10:54:59","date_gmt":"2012-06-24T10:54:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/?p=10927"},"modified":"2012-06-24T10:56:59","modified_gmt":"2012-06-24T10:56:59","slug":"shakespeares-black-african-mistress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aaeurop.com\/?p=10927","title":{"rendered":"Shakespeare\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s Black African Mistress?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shakespeare\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s Black African Mistress?<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n

Professor Pilikian\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s Discoveries Revolutionize Shakespearean Studies<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

by \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0<\/h4>\n

Edwina Charles, MA Hon (Phil<\/em>), MSc Hon ( Psych<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Hard at the heels of Prof Pilikian\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s discoveries of what he labeled as linguistic fossils<\/em> proving mankind\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s rise in the Armenian Highlands of Anatolia (the region of the Ararat Mountains<\/em>), which may yet become the most important new science of the 21st c., comes his extraordinary discoveries of \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb Shakespeare\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s Black African Mistress<\/em> \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009c Pilikian\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s identification of what hitherto has been referred to as The Dark Lady of the Sonnets<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The professor\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s fingers seem to be so much on the pulse of global socio-cultural concerns of renovation, that his themes always catch the wind of change in radical re-thinking of ossified and sclerotic mindsets. \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0Upon the invitation of Mr. Shahin Rafatfoo, President of the Open Discussion Society<\/em> of Birkbeck College (University of London), on the day (8th June, 2012) of his most recent public lecture, the Professor had picked up the Evening Standard<\/em> headlining England\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s Plea to Stamp Out Racism \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009c <\/em>the curse of European football \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb little anyone knew that the professor had sharpened a huge nail to hammer forcefully in the coffin of global Racism as such, proving that \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Britain\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s and the world\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s greatest playwright and poet, Shakespeare was actually passionately in love with a Black African slave, unwillingly whored \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0<\/em>in a Southwark South Bank \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0brothel, in the immediate environmental vicinity of Shakespeare\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s living quarters\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d.<\/p>\n

The English will not accept this until their neo-Nazi BNP (British National Party) and BDL (British Defense League) disappear one day \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb A very respectable looking old gentlemen, silver haired and old-fashioned, began heckling the professor mid-stream. \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0Thankfully, he had the wisdom to leave soon after, allowing us to enjoy the rest of the professor\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s epoch-making path-breaking lecture. \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0<\/p>\n

Standing upon the shoulders of the classical giants of Shakespearean scholarship, E.K. Chambers, Caroline Spurgeon, Eric Partridge, Sewell (the professor\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s own tutor in his teenage years at the American University of Beirut<\/em>, Lebanon), Pilikian opened up new trenches in the linguistic archeology of the Shakespearean texts with stunning results \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009c entirely evidence-led<\/em>, Pilikian provided scholarly exegesis while reading the texts of the Sonnets<\/em> un-controversially dedicated to the Mistress<\/em>, starting with Sonnet number 127, the very first of the mistress-sequence, where the Bard\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s very first line<\/p>\n

In the old age black was not counted fair <\/em>[l.1]<\/p>\n

launches the theme of the Black Beauty \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009c we thought it started with Black Consciousness in America, but the Bard has been there half a thousand years ago \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb<\/p>\n

But now is black beauty\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s successive heir [l.3]
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

arguing that Black with black-eyes<\/p>\n


\n<\/em>
\n\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0my mistress\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7 eyes are raven black<\/em> \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0[l.9]<\/p>\n

is the new Blonde-with-Blue-eyes \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb (the Medieval Viking and English ideal).<\/p>\n

What can be more explicit about the Mistress\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7 skin- color than<\/p>\n


\n<\/em>
\nThy black is fairest in my judgment\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s place <\/em>[number 131, l.12]<\/p>\n

\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb black wires grow on her head \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0<\/em>[130, l.4]<\/p>\n

Any African will recognize the above line as a description of own hair<\/em><\/strong> \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0And finally, one of the most powerful emotional outbursts Pilikian has targeted as a clinching evidence of the mistress\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7 African Black identity \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009c the last line of number 147;<\/p>\n


\n<\/em>
\nWho art as black as hell, as dark as night.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Professor Pilikian states, \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Shakespeare is screaming down the centuries that the woman he loved passionately was not mildly dark, olive-skin colored Southern Aristo \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb as the racist fools have blinkered themselves to, but that she was African-black, like the Night \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb and you cannot get blacker than Night itself<\/span><\/em>!\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d<\/p>\n

Shakespeare also underlines the \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056d\u009csexy\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7 fact that his mistress\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7 eyes are frequently full of tears \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009c \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093 they mourners seem<\/em>\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d (127, line 10), then again in the first line of the last Couplet (line 13)<\/p>\n

\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb. they mourn, becoming of their woe<\/em><\/p>\n

All commentators, without exception, have (mis)-understood those lines very superficially as tears shed for \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb the love of Shakespeare. Professor Pilikian establishes beyond a reasonable doubt<\/em> that in fact they are the tears of an African slave, homesick, raped daily endlessly in a Southwark brothel, as a prostitute. \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0Today\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s London South Bank area was full of stew-houses<\/em>, supervised by Abbesses<\/em> running Nunneries<\/em> \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb an Elizabethan euphemism for Brothel-Madames<\/em>. \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0And one of the greatest traders in human flesh, the whoremongers, was the Bishop <\/em>of Winchester \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb Southwark prostitutes were called Winchester Geese<\/em> \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb no wonder Britain fell into a civil war and Cromwell had \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0<\/em>to come to power \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0for a while! \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0<\/p>\n

Professor Pilikian, incredibly but as a matter of historical fact is the very first scholar<\/em> to have picked up the thread of Slavery<\/em><\/strong> clearly expressed by Shakespeare in Sonnet number 133<\/p>\n


\n<\/em>
\nBut slave to slavery my sweet\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7st friend must be?<\/em> [l. 4] \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shakespeare is referring to the fact that his own male \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093sweetest friend<\/em>\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d is also passionately entangled with the same slave-woman, to the degree of intensity that he has become a slave to the slave \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb<\/p>\n

Professor Pilikian pointed out that already at the end of 16th c. the English landed aristocracy had began a fashion of owning a couple of slaves in their households \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0080\u009c Lady Raleigh of the prominent Elizabethan intellectual Sir Walter Raleigh was one of the first. \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0Queen Elizabeth the First\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s Ladies-in-waiting frequently disguised themselves as black-women<\/em> , in court-masques, impersonated <\/em>for sexual excitement exotic African females.<\/p>\n

Pilikian pointed out that Shakespeare very subtly \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093and with the skill of the great poet so typical of him alone in world literature\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0<\/em>could elaborate the theme as a complex metaphor in the very next Sonnet \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0(number 134), arguing that neither his male friend nor he himself will ever be able to \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093be free<\/em>\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d of their passionate slavery to the slave-mistress;<\/p>\n

\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb. \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb he will not be free<\/em> [l.5]<\/p>\n

\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb and yet am I not free<\/em> [last line, 14] \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0<\/p>\n


\n<\/em>
\nThy proud heart\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s slave and vassal wretch to be<\/em> [Sonnet 141, l.12]<\/p>\n

where Shakespeare has (in professor Pilikian\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s words) \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093re-enforced almost in concrete, his poetic conceit of a slave as a vassal, and a sadly de-humanized wretch\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d<\/em>. \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0Friends in the audience I noticed were left open-mouthed at the magnificence of the professor\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s discoveries and definitions. \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0<\/p>\n

I can only wish that Professor Pilikian rushes into publishing a book on his impeccable textual fact-driven discoveries and \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056d\u009carcheological\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7 decipherments \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I would like to end my brief report by informing the readers of the most radically innovative yet, and stunning exegesis by Professor Pilikian of the most famous number 128, universally mis-understood as the evidence of Shakespeare\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s glorification of his Dark Lady\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s exceptional musicality and instrumental skills \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb absolutely ridiculous and laughable in the professor\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s true understanding of Shakespeare\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s extraordinarily clever elaboration of his poetic musical conceit. \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are hilarious descriptions by distinguished scholars fantasizing Romantic scenes of Shakespeare standing there at his \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056d\u009caristocratic\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7 dark-skinned (Spanish type \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb) mistress\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7 side watching her amorously play beautifully on a virginal <\/em>\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb<\/p>\n

The first observation Professor Pilikian made is that no \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb virginal is mentioned or portrayed or metaphorized in any sense in the text \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb but merely a \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093 blessed wood<\/em>\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d [l.2] with strings as harsh as \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093wire<\/em>\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d (echoing the hair-wires quoted above) that produce sound which is cacophonous and grates on Shakespeare\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s ears \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb and let us not forget that Shakespeare had an excellent ear for music!<\/p>\n


\n<\/em>
\nThe wiry concord that mine ear confounds <\/em>[l.4] \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shakespeare then describes in intense eroticism (which is what has distracted the scholars obviously) the \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056a\u0093Jacks\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u009d = the wooden Key-pegs on a stringed instrument, never on a primitive harpsichord like a virginal!!<\/p>\n


\n<\/em>
\nDo I envy those jacks that nimble leap
\n<\/em>
\nTo kiss the tender inward of thy hand \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0<\/em> [ll. 5-6]<\/p>\n

Professor Pilikian points out, and he is absolutely right<\/em>, that there is a single hand (grammatically in singular, the other holding the instrument) in question banging on the \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb key-pegs\/jacks of the instrument \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb portraying a woman who does not know how to play the instrument<\/em>, and is furiously banging with her palms hilariously on the key-pegs<\/em> \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb as if it were an African drum \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb<\/p>\n

The life and soul of African music is in percussion and rhythm, not melody as in the European tradition \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb probably the poor woman is \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u056d\u009cspeaking\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7 with her drum-beats,<\/p>\n


\n<\/em>
\nMaking dead wood more blessed than living lips<\/em> [l. 12]<\/p>\n

crying (her raven-black eyes) out for help (from neighboring villages on the Thames \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb ) to come and save her from the hell-hole she has been thrown into \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb It is the saddest, sweetest description of a caged slave in world-literature! \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0<\/p>\n

If nothing else, this very first absolutely correct explanation of Shakespeare\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s this particular Sonnet (128) displays Pilikian\u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0549\u0084\u00a7s crackling mind of a genius. \u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think Shakespeare has met his Armenian match and must be dancing in his grave, of sheer joie de vivre<\/em> \u0569\u00a7\u0549\u0082-\u0539\u00bb joy of life!<\/p>\n

A film was made by Chad Manian, University Lecturer in Economics,\u0569\u0082\u0539\u00a0uploaded on the Web in ten minute chunks;<\/p>\n

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