Examine and compare the views of love in three Shakespearean sonnets
Examine and compare the views of love in
three Shakespearean sonnets
Introduction
In this piece of courswork I aim to compare and examine the views of love expressed in
three of his different sonnets.
The type of sonnets Shakespeare wrote are normally referred to as Shakespearean
sonnets , although he was not the inventor of the style , he was the most famous practicioner.
Biography
William Shakespeare, as known today, was born Gulielmus filius Johannes Shakespeare,
although the exact date of his birth is unknown the accepted date is April 23 (St George's
Day). He was born in a town called Stratford in the midlands, although his place of birth is
also unknown, the accepted place is what was his father's house at the year of birth, a house
on Henley Street in Stratford.
Shakespeare probably began his education at the age of six or seven at the Stratford
grammar school, which is still standing only a short distance from his house on Henley Street
and is in the care of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Although we have no record of
Shakespeare attending the school, due to the official position held by John Shakespeare
(William's father) it is likely that he would have decided to educate young William at the
school which was under the care of Stratford's governing body. The Stratford grammar
school had been built some two hundred years before Shakespeare was born and in that
time the lessons taught there were, of course, dictated primarily by the beliefs of the reigning
monarch. In 1553, due to a charter by King Edward VI, the school became known as the
King's New School of Stratford-upon-Avon.
There are bridged and dubious details about Shakespeare's life growing up in Stratford.
He is supposed to have worked for a butcher, in addition to helping run his father's
business. There is a fable that Shakespeare stole a deer from Sir Thomas Lucy at
Charlecote, and instead of serving a prison sentence, fled from Stratford. Although this is
most likley to be just a tale.
Shakespeare's daily activities after he left school and before he re-emerged as a
professional actor in the late 1580s are very difficult to trace.
Suggestions that he might have worked as a schoolmaster, lawyer or a glover with his
father and brother, Gilbert, are all possible suggestions. So too is the idea that Shakespeare
studied very hard to become a master at his literary craft, and tried to perfect his acting skills
whilst traveling and visiting playhouses outside of Stratford. But, it is from this period known
as the "lost years", that we obtain a vital piece of information about Shakespeare: he married
a pregnant orphan named Anne Hathaway.
Recordings in the Episcopal register at Worcester on the dates of November 27 and 28,
582, reveal that Shakespeare desired to marry a young girl named Anne. There are two
different documents regarding this matter, and their contents have raised a debate over just
whom Shakespeare first intended to wed. Were there two Annes? Was Shakespeare in love
with one but in lust with the other? Maybe the 'dark lady' in many of Shakespeare's sonnets
was his mistress Anne Whateley .
Was Shakespeare ready to join in matrimony with the Anne of his dreams only to feel
guilty and marry the Anne with who he had made pregnant ?
Anne Hathwey and Anne Whateley are the two Annes ...
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different documents regarding this matter, and their contents have raised a debate over just
whom Shakespeare first intended to wed. Were there two Annes? Was Shakespeare in love
with one but in lust with the other? Maybe the 'dark lady' in many of Shakespeare's sonnets
was his mistress Anne Whateley .
Was Shakespeare ready to join in matrimony with the Anne of his dreams only to feel
guilty and marry the Anne with who he had made pregnant ?
Anne Hathwey and Anne Whateley are the two Annes involved with Shakespeare ,
althought both surnames contain a lot of the same letters and sound similar . We do not
know if there were two different Anne's or just one , if there were two it paints a picture of
Shakespeare as a young man torn between the love he felt for Anne Whateley and the
obligation he felt toward Anne Hathwey and the child she was carrying, which was most
probably his .
Or , there was just the one Anne , although this idea is more accepted , I prefer the idea
that Shakespeare was torn between these two girls , it seems to be an event in his life that
would shape his writing style and the content in his plays .
My mistress' eye's are nothing like the sun
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go,
My mistress when she walks, treads on the ground;
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
Paraphrase
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Her lips are plaer than coral;
Her breasts are not as white as snow;
Black wiry hair grows upon her head.
I have seen roses , between the colours of red and white (pink)
But I do not see these colours anywhere in her cheeks;
And some perfumes give more delight
Than the breath coming from my mistress
I love her voice , although I know
That music is a more pleasing sound
I admit to never seeing a godess walk
But I know that my mistress can only walk upon the ground
And yet I think my love is rare
As any woman who has had poetic untruths told about her beauty
In this sonnet Shakespeare is rejecting the style in which poets portray the women they
love , to have features akin to those of items , expensive and ultimately beautiful . For
example 'her skin is as smooth as silk' , maybe some women to have features like this , but
shakespeare's love certainly does'nt .
Shakespeare loves the woman in the sonnet , sometimes referred to the dark lady , as
Shakespeare had written about her in a few of his sonnets , although he tells no 'poetic
untruths' about her . He still loves her , but knows that she is not overwhelmingly beautiful ,
as the women other poets talk about probably are'nt either , instead of creating a
superficial beauty of a lover in this sonnet , Shakespeare tries to be truthul about his
mistress , although in a slightly unkind way , he may be telling the truth , but he does it in a
somewhat harsh way , for example .
"And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks"
In a way Shakespeare was being nihilistic towards the accepted form of love
poems towards one's mistress / lover , disregarding all the common ways of
describing one's lover and describing her for exactly what she is / was , although ,
I think in a harsh way .
Shakespeare's love towards this 'dark lady' is present , it isn't quite a view of
unconditional love portrayed , as I don't think he means to portray this lady as a
beast , he just tries to portray a real woman , instead of a fake 'poetic' woman.
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Paraphrase
Let me not declare any reasons why two
True-minded people should be married. Love is not love
Which chages when it finds an reason for it to change ,
Or bends from its firm stand even when the lovers are unfaithful:
Oh no! it is a fixed mark
That sees storms but it never shaken;
It is the guiding star to every lost ship,
Whose value cannot be calculated, although its height can be measured.
Love is not at the mercy of Time, though its rosy lips and cheeks
Come within the compass of his sickle.
Love does not alter with hours and weeks,
But, rather, it endures until the last day of life
If I am proved wrong about these thoughts on love
Then I take back all that I have written, and no man has ever loved.
This sonnet (sonnet 116) is about idealistic love , love that does'nt 'alter when it
alteration finds' . Shakespeare believes that love is an 'ever fixed mark' , meaning that he
believes true love is a permanent thing , basically lasting until 'the edge of doom' .
Shakespeare believes that love will still shine through , like a beacon to sailors in a rocky
patch , when troubled times arise .
Shakespeare writes that although love can be measured , all of it's mystery's will never be
understood.
All the words in sonnet 116 are simple , so as to make the piece easy to read although
the message is about the complexity and impossibility to ever understand love .
Shall I compare thee to a summers day?
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Paraphrase
Shall I compare you to a summer's day?
You are more lovely and more delightful:
Rough winds shake the much loved buds of May
And summer is far too short:
At times the sun is too hot,
Or often goes behind the clouds;
And everything that is beautiful will lose its beauty,
By chance or by nature's planned out course;
But your youth shall not fade,
Nor lose the beauty that you possess;
Nor will death claim you for his own,
Because in my eternal verse you will live forever:
So long as there are people on this earth,
So long will this poem live on, giving you immortality
In this sonnet (sonnet 18) Shaksespeare is comparing his friend to a summer's
day , the summer was one of Shakespeare's favourite seasons maybe , or there
were just a lot more similies when a summers day was the subject . He likens his
friend to a summers day , but he prefers his friend , although Shakespeare rejected
all the common ways of writing love poems when he wrote 'My mistress' eyes are
nothing like the sun' , this poem seems to be quite a good example of the style he
rejected . He compares his friend to the sun , but finds fault in the sun , the
compared with summer the season , fault is found , although this sonnet was written
before sonnet 130 (my mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun) , it is strangely similar.
The love in this sonnet is for a friend it seems , Shakespeare feels that writing this
sonnet for his friend means that people will never forget the friend's beauty , be the
friend a man or women .
Analysis
To examine and compare different types of love would be difficult because as far
as I know there are no accepted 'forms' of love , Shakespeare obviously has
different types of feelings for each subject in these sonnets . In sonnet 130 (my
mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun) the subject is , quite obviously ,
Shakespeare's mistress , a mistress being the ilicit lover of a married man . Although
Shakespeare loves this women he seems to think that she's quite ugly , possibly not
ugly , but he realises she is not a perfect woman , which is strange because If this
woman is so far away from perfection whats wrong with his wife?
Shakespeare seems to have a relaxed type of love for this woman , he does not
care about her state of beauty , although I don't think she was actually ugly , just
Shakespeare was trying to strip all the poetic lies from a poem about one's lover
and make it real .
Although Shakespeare tries to take away all the poetic untruths in sonnet 130 he himself
writes a 'soppy' sort of poem using similies about the subject in sonnet 18 (Shall I compare
thee to a summers day?) .
The love in sonnet 18 is for a friend , so not love in a sexual kind of way . Shakespeare
has a friend how he seems to pretty much adore , I'm not sure if the friend is male or female
, but I researched the sonnet and apparently the subject is just a friend .
Shakespeare compares his friend to such things as the sun , and summer itself , but
Shakespeare see's the friend as more valuable than either . His aim of the poem is to see
that his friend , and his/her redeeming features , live on through the ages so that the friend
will never be forgotten .
I believe Shakespeare was paid a favour of some sort by this mysterious friend , and is
showing his grtitude in this sonnet , as it seems that way from the writing style . This sonnet
reads faster than the others , it is more light hearted I feel and more exciting , I do not know
completely why the word exciting springs to mind , but it seems fitting .
This sonnet reminds me of a thank you that you gave out when you received a present at
Christmas, when you were young , one that you had been longing for since a few months
before and did'nt think you were going to get , the keen hurried frenzy of thank you's and
brighter eyes that accompanied the excitement of having that present . Sonnet 18 seems to
have that kind of quality to it .
In sonnet 116 (Let me not to the marriage of true minds) , Shakespeare is describing an
Idealistic type of love, or 'true' love. This is the only one of the sonnets I've been looking at
that does'nt have any 'subjects' or people mentioned in the sonnet . In the other sonnets
Shakespeare talks about his love for another person , how he feels about this person ,
whereas in sonnet 116 he talks about love , and how he thinks it should be .
Shakespeare is possibly talking about a love he has never had , because in his eyes this is
perfection , which is always hard to attain , whatever your view of it is .
