Verified Document

Shakespeare Sonnet William Shakespeare Registered Term Paper

The ironic twist is the play of what is to be expected to be said and what is actually said (or, going back to the argument, what is expected from love and what actually occurs): It begins: "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun; / Coral is far more red than her lips' red" From here the sonnet continues with a much less pleasing list of the qualities about this mistress, who is definitely very far from the ideal perfection noted in the Petrarchan sonnets. The distinction between the two sonnet approaches increases in the last of the couplets when Shakespeare makes his final argument and explains why he has been using such lesser quality comparisons all along: "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare/as any she, belied with false compare."

In other words,...

The "real thing" is expressed this way: "It is what's inside that counts," or "Beauty is only skin deep."
Thus, Shakespeare is not demeaning the real beauty -- the woman without the coral lips or rosy cheeks or musical sound -- but rather he is diminishing the woman who is given all these attributes. In brief, he is saying that true beauty, true love, does not have to be exaggerated and made into something that it is not. By itself it is enough. Only something that is false and illusionary and soon to disappear needs to be given structure and meaning.

In tribute to the song group, the Beatles', 50th Anniversary, there is a wonderful line in a song by Paul McCartney that sums up this Sonnet. "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, When I'm sixty-four."

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Shakespeare a Poet of Passion
Words: 2016 Length: 6 Document Type: Thesis

Thus, Shakespeare's poems have shown that they deal with timeless topics, topics that have proved their worth over time, such as love, passion, and writing. Throughout time, however, Shakespeare's reputation of a writer did, indeed, change. While he was known as a businessman and patron of the arts during his life, it is suspected that he was not celebrated for his masterful writing until after his death ("Shakespeare Biography"). Today,

Milton's Sonnets John Milton's Sonnets:
Words: 1663 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

However, before citing parallels between Milton's ideas and the liberal divorce legislation of the later twentieth century one should note that in all instances Milton presents the man as the suffering party. He does not deny that the woman also might suffer, but consistently she is portrayed as the potential cause of the state in which 'instead of being one flesh, they will be rather two carcasses chained unnaturally

How Poetry Can Be Depicted in Drawings
Words: 778 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Art Creation and Analysis "Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds Or bends with the remover to remove: O no; it is an ever-fixed mark, That looks on tempests, and is never shaken" William Shakespeare, Sonnet 116. Retrieved from http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/116.html These lines mean to me that love is something that does not change. It is more than a feeling, because feelings come and go. Sometimes we feel something that we call love intensely and

Earl of Rochester / Aphra Behn Masks
Words: 4609 Length: 10 Document Type: Essay

Earl of Rochester / Aphra Behn Masks and Masculinities: Gender and Performance in the Earl of Rochester's "Imperfect Enjoyment" and Aphra Behn's "The Disappointment" Literature of the English Restoration offers the example of a number of writers who wrote for a courtly audience: literary production, particularly in learned imitation of classical models, was part of the court culture of King Charles II. The fact of a shared model explains the remarkable similarities between "The

Theories Tactics Methods and Techniques
Words: 24173 Length: 76 Document Type: Term Paper

EDSE 600: History and Philosophy of Education / / 3.0 credits The class entitled, History and Philosophy of Education, focused on the origin of education and the "philosophical influences of modern educational theory and practice. Study of: philosophical developments in the Renaissance, Reformation, and revolutionary periods; social, cultural and ideological forces which have shaped educational policies in the United States; current debates on meeting the wide range of educational and social-emotional

T.S. Eliot and Amy Lowell the Poetic
Words: 3512 Length: 10 Document Type: Essay

T.S. Eliot and Amy Lowell The poetic styles of T.S. Eliot and Amy Lowell are so dissimilar, that it comes as something of a shock to realize how much the two poets had in common. Each came from a prominent Boston family, and was related to a President of Harvard University -- Eliot was a distant relation to Harvard's President Eliot, and attended Harvard as an undergraduate: Amy Lowell's brother would

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now