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).

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