Beauty In The Eyes Of The Beholder

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). 34c