Shakespeare the satire -

Pierce

Christopher Pierce

ENG 102

10/15/2004

Paper #2

Shakespeare the Satire

Many authors compose sonnets about women whom they loved. Most of these authors embellish their women's physical characteristics by comparing them to natural wonders that we, as humans, find beautiful. Shakespeare's “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun” contradicts this idea, by stating that his mistress lacks most of the qualities other men wrongly praise their women for possessing. Shakespeare presents to one that true love recognizes imperfections and feels devotion regardless of flaws, while satirically expressing his personal thoughts on Petrarchan sonnets. Through the use of comparisons, the English sonnet and an anti-Petrarchan approach, he creatively gets his point across.

“My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun” uses comparisons to express Shakespeare’s idea of love as opposed to lust. A lustful man would focus on a woman’s pleasing physical characteristics, such as white breasts, beautiful hair, red lips, and fragrant breath; however, Shakespeare's mistress possesses none of these great characteristics. Shakespeare, instead, uses metaphors to express her physical shortcomings. “Coral is far more red than her lips’ red” (line 2) describes his mistress’ faded lips. “If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head” (line 4) shows the coarse, unkempt and dark color of her hair. “And in some perfumes is there more delight than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.” (Lines 7-8) expresses his mistress’ dire need for a breath mint. These comparisons give one a vivid description of his mistress’ lacking beauty, and sets one up for the couplet at the end of the sonnet. Through the couplet “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she, belied with false compare.” (Lines 13-14), Shakespeare explains that he loves his mistress, regardless of her looks, over any other woman described with false embellishment. This expression shows how Shakespeare believes love should see flaws but be able to overlook them.

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Shakespeare uses the form of an English sonnet, more commonly known as the Shakespearean sonnet, to communicate his thoughts. A Shakespearean sonnet “is organized into three quatrains and a couplet, which typically rhyme abab cdcd efef gg” (Meyer, p.917). Additionally, within these sonnet styles “the most pronounced break or turn comes with the concluding couplet” (Meyer, p.917). The consistency of rhyme scheme helps underscore Shakespeare's thoughts by emphasizing certain words. Looking at the first two lines of each quatrain and comparing the rhyme with the second two lines of the quatrain, one may see some interesting pairing of words. “Sun” (line 1) and “red” (line 2) versus “dun” (line 3) and “head” (line 4), “white” (line 5) and “cheeks” (line 6) versus “delight” (line 7) and “reeks” (line 8) and finally “know” (line 9) and “sound” (line 10) versus “go” (line 11) and “ground” (line 12). The words completing the first two lines in each quatrain, when paired together, describe something pleasant while the words paired in the second two lines describe something unpleasant. This helps strengthen Shakespeare’s message throughout the sonnet. Likewise, in the couplet, the “rare” (line 13) and “compare” (line 14) paired together helps signify that pleasant ideas rarely compare with unpleasant ideas. Another interpretation may conclude that the false embellishments used in most sonnets rarely compare to the actual women they describe. In either case, Shakespeare completes this idea by comparing the unpleasant physical attributes of his mistress to the pleasant love that he has for her, thus creating the pronounced break or turn of the sonnet.

Finally, Shakespeare takes an anti-Petrarchan approach to satirically present his message, giving it a resounding affect. Petrarchan sonnets usually describe a subject using personifying comparisons to enhance the subject’s appearance or beauty, and place them on a pedestal in one’s mind. This causes one to focus on lustful ideals of physical love, instead of the true meaning of love that Shakespeare envisions. By enhancing his mistress’ flaws, Shakespeare completely contradicts the Petrarchan view as well as the prominent writings of those times. This approach has a resounding affect by producing a realistic character for one to relate to, since most everyone possesses some sort of physical flaw. The enhancements also cause one to question why someone would talk about their loved one in such a negative manner, making them focus primarily on the lacking, yet lustful, physical attributes of his mistress. When he writes “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she, belied with false compare.” (lines 13-14) in the final couplet, one responds with an enlightened appreciation, making them understand Shakespeare’s message that true love consists of something deeper than physical beauty.

Shakespeare expresses his ideas in a wonderful fashion. Not only does he express himself through direct interpretation of his sonnet, but also through the levels at which he styled and produced it. One cannot help but appreciate his message of true love over lust, along with his creative criticism of Petrarchan sonnets. “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun” truly shows why many regard Shakespeare as a literary genius.