Literature
My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun by William Shakespeare
And My Lady’s Presence Makes the Roses Red by Henry Constable
Sonnets have always been an example of a very sensitive poem that is able to convey the deepest feelings of the author and arise the same feelings in the reader. Even though sonnets always have a strict structure consisting of exactly fourteen lines and a special rhyme scheme, they are not devoid of a poetical touch that has been fascinating readers of any tastes for many centuries since the times of Petrarch, Shakespeare and other masters of this complicated type of poetry.
Sonnets have different topics but they mostly tell us about something very sensitive, and the sonnets we are dealing with in this research are praising women’s beauty and also telling about men’s attitude to it. Still, though being very similar in topic, there are certain differences in perceiving this beauty.
William Shakespeare’s sonnet that we are dealing with – number 130 – belongs to the group of sonnets dedicated to a certain woman with swarthy skin. It also seems that these sonnets may be dedicated to different women with such skin color. There is not a lot of information about the origin of Constable’s poem, however we can be absolutely sure that the poet was truly in love with her.
Both of the sonnets are built on comparisons of the beloved women of the authors to other things like the sun, perfumes (in Shakespeare’s sonnet), and flowers (Constable’s sonnet) etc. However, the whole essence of these comparisons seems to be opposite: one of the authors – Shakespeare – makes his woman look like an average woman (though still very loved and wanted) and another one – Constable – is positioning his woman as a heavenly creature next to which even nature becomes envious.
Both of the sonnets are written in the strict manner of a traditional sonnet: three quatrains are followed by a distich that reveals the finale and contains the main message of the poem. The rhyme scheme is also traditional.
Right from the beginning, we can notice that Shakespeare is calling his woman “a mistress” (Shakespeare, 115). This, in connection with all the things that are said about her in the course of the whole poem, makes us have a certain negative feeling towards her at first. However, this negative feeling may last only until the end of the poem where the author reveals that no matter what – he still loves her as she is. This is the part of the poem where he finally calls her “my love”, which now creates a warm attitude towards a mysterious female.
Another interesting feature is that in all previous sonnets by Shakespeare he goes the other way: first he uses flattering epithets and metaphors to win a lady’s attention and then proceeds to further actions sometimes involving physical contact.
Henry Constable’s sonnet, on the other hand, contains the word “lady” in the very title, which makes us believe that his attitude to this woman is very kind and full of love.
The whole idea of the two sonnets seems opposite: the woman of Shakespeare is brought down to Earth and described as somebody very trivial and usual. Some of the comparisons that are used by Shakespeare may even seem offensive and would obviously not be recommended to use as pick-up lines. The ones that seem especially offensive are about the smell: “And in some perfumes is there more delight,than in the breath that from my mistress reeks” (Shakespeare, 115); at least modern ladies would definitely not appreciate it if a man said they smell much worse than perfumes.
Constable’s woman, on the other hand, is compared to different natural thing like roses, lilies, violets and others and the purpose of bringing up all these flowers is to show that the woman is a lot prettier than all of them. It is interesting how Constable uses flowers to point out that his woman is more beautiful that the most beautiful things in the world.
Both of the sonnets praise a woman’s beauty. Even though they are totally different in the approach to this, they are still very appealing. Though it may seem from the start that Shakespeare is being rude to his woman, he has a reason for that: it is important to see the beauty even in plain women and praise them for who they are. His sonnet is also an ode to the real love that is not imposed upon you by the modern standards. He is trying to say something like “Who said that a woman has to smell like flowers? She is a human so she can smell like a human”.
Constable’s approach, on the other hand, is that a beloved woman may seem like a heavenly creature and it is more beautiful that anything in the world. However, from some point of view this approach may seem too flattering and may be used only to make a woman fall in love with a man quickly. Such approach, by the way often used in Petrarch’s sonnets, may also look like a way to take hold of a woman in bed.
Another difference between the sonnets would be that we understand that in My Mistress’ Eyes Look Nothing Like The Sun (Shakespeare, 115), the woman is truly beautiful only towards the end of it, when he calls her a “love”. In My Lady’s Presence Makes The Roses Red (Constable, 47), on the contrary, the woman appears beautiful from the very beginning of the first verse and we are amazed by her god-like beauty more and more towards the end of it.
Works Cited:
Edited By Bush, Douglas & Harbage, Alfred. Shakespeare Sonnets. N.p.: Penguin, 1961. Print.
Lee, Sidney. Elizabethan Sonnets. New York: Cooper Square, 1964. Print.
