Essay, Research Paper
OUTLINE
THESIS: My mistress eyes expresses love as being uniqueness, non-perfect, and
soul searching.
I. Introduction
II. Paraphrase of poem
A. Shakespeare s meaning behind what is said
B. Shakespeare s feelings about love
III. Quatrains
A. Eyes like sun
1. Unique for not having eyes like sun
2. Loves her for being different
B. Voice is not as pleasant as music
1. Unique because her voice is different
2. Loves her no matter what she sounds like
IV. Couplet
A. Standards of being beautiful
1. Uniqueness makes one beautiful
2. Loving one beyond appearance
B. Shakespeare declares he loves her
1. Love goes beyond the standard of beauty
2. He loves her because she is different
V. Conclusion
Conclusion: Love and beauty are in the eyes of the beholder.
Romance, love, lust, and seduction are interesting topics for all people.
Shakespeare writes about all of these things. In My mistress eyes by William
Shakespeare he is expressing his meaning of love and beauty. Love is different for
each individual, but still has a central idea surrounding the word. That central idea
of love is one of joy, happiness, and bliss. Shakespeare expresses through My
mistress eyes that the idea of love is based upon one s own individuality. Who
wants to love someone who is so much like the next person? Who wants to love
someone who is so much like their own self? I feel that love is exactly like
Shakespeare describes. People like uniqueness and things that are different to that
certain person. I think that all people like things that are different and unsual dealing
with love. My mistress eyes expresses love as being uniqueness, non-perfect, and
soul searching.
Shakespeare in his poem My mistress eyes states that his mistress eyes are
not as beautiful as the sun, her lips aren t the color of coral, her breasts are not the
perfect color, her hair is like wires, her cheeks aren t as pretty as roses, she does not
smell as nice as perfume, her breath is not pleasant, her voice is not as pleasing as
music, and she does not walk softly like most beautiful women do. Shakespeare is
protraying his mistress to be not beautiful on the outside and not beautiful compared
to other women that have earned the label of being beautiful. Shakespeare finds
beauty deep within his mistress and he sees beauty in her because she is not like all
the other women. His mistress eyes, lips, breasts, hair, cheeks, smell, breath, and
voice appeal to him because she is how beauty looks to him. Shakespeare came up
with his own definition of beauty and the definition he has protrayed in the poem is
that of difference and being unique is what beauty is to him.
My mistress eyes expresses the thought of love being that of an opinion of
what beauty is from different perspectives. In the three quatrains Shakespeare is
basically saying that his mistress has unique, but not beautiful features. In line one
Shakespeare says My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun, but why should all
beautiful women have eyes like the sun? Beauty has been said to be in the eyes of the
beholder and so why does eyes like sun mean that one is beautiful. If everyone s eyes
were the same in color and shape then people would be too conformed and who
would be the judge of what beauty was if every feature was the same about a person.
In lines nine and ten Shakespeare states I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
that music hath a far more pleasing sound and this merely is adding that he knows
her voice is not pleasant and does not give him the same feeling as music, but her
voice is still beautiful to him. Shakespeare merely is stating that the things that others
find beautiful he does not. I find that love is too often based upon appearances and
should be based on being compatable. Love is being about to look over all the
annoying habits and looking over all the not so beautiful qualities. I think to look
past all the things I do not like about the person and still love the person is what
Shakespeare s idea about love is. I think it takes more love to look past all the
non-perfect aspects of a person than it does to merely look at whether the person is
beautiful or not. The unique qualities of his mistress makes his love for her stronger.
He knows that her qualities are not those of outstanding beauty by definition of
society, but who is to say they are not? Shakespeare is saying that her qualities are
beautiful and he loves her for these different qualities no matter if others do not find
them beautiful.
In the couplet Shakespeare concludes the poem declaring his mistress as not
being beautiful as to the standards he gives by saying all these things about her that
do not meet the standards of being beautiful actually makes her more beautiful to
him. I believe this backs up my feelings that it is the things that are different about
people that makes one love them deeply enough to look past just the appearance.
Shakespeare states And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she belied
with false compare and by saying this he means his love for her is a rare love
because she is not normal and is not beautiful by the conformed definition.
All of her features are not as beautiful as some womens features, but he loves her
because she is beautiful in a different way. She is beautiful because she is different
and in the couplet he is declaring this. Shakespeare is in love with aspect of her
beauty being a different beauty than that of the typical beauty in society. I believe
this is true because society has made beauty be one certain thing and I believe it is
not. I think that beauty is what appeals to different people and in my opinion just
like Shakespeare says the other things that make the person stand out and the things
that catch my eye are the things that make me love that person more and those things
are beautiful. The couplet concludes his poem of defining each way his mistress is
not perfect and beautiful by stating it is her own kind of unique beauty that makes
him love her.
My idea of love is a classic idea. My mistress eyes describes my feelings
and ideas surrounding love and beauty. Love is a powerful thing and lightning will
strike, knees will tremble, palms will sweat, and eyes will glow when one is in love.
Being is love is not loving the appearance and beauty of a person, but rather loving
that person because that person is someone who stands out in a crowd and because
that person makes feelings arise that no other has touched. Shakespeare expresses
exactly what I think love is. Love is loving unconventional things, loving unique
qualities, and not being afraid of being different. If everyone loved the same type of
people and the same type of qualities in people then what happens to all the other
people that do not meet these qualities? Do they not get loved? Loving the
uniqueness and the special qualities of a person makes relationships last and makes
passion grow within the relationship. Love and beauty are most definately in the
eyes of the beholder and as Shakespeare put it As any she belied with false
compare (line 14).
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