Shakespeares Mistress
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William Shakespeare was married to Anne Hathaway in the late 1500s. During 1582 and 1592, Shakespeare experienced a time during his life that is often referred to as Shakespeares Lost Years; it became known as this because Shakespeare had left his wife to move to London for work as an actor and playwright. While William was away he had many mistresss, whether it was love or just for a night. It was a time during his life where he explored his ambitions. Most of his poems were inspired by his life. Which brings me to this poem “my mistress eyes are nothing like the sun”. This poem he wrote was very different from a common love sonnet. It follows the rhyme scheme ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG. This sonnet expressed his mistress using metaphors and comparisons to create an image of a hideous woman. William is trying to understand what attracts him to his mistress despite her obvious flaws. Although, the end of the sonnet he states that despite her flaws in every way imaginable, he still loves her.
“My mistress eyes are nothing like the sun” starts out by comparing her eyes to the sun saying they are not full of sunshine and sparkle but, are dull and dark. Some of the most beautiful things were found in nature in early time. Also the sun is the main star and she is not the main woman in his life. He continues to paint his image of his mistress.
“Coral is far more red, than her lips red,” Coral, in Shakespeares day was the most beautiful red there could see. “Historically, and in earlier literature and folk-lore, the name belongs to the beautiful red coral, an arborescent species, found in the Red Sea and Mediterranean, prized from times of antiquity for ornamental purposes, and often classed among precious stones.”(Commentary) Shakespeares mistress was far from the coral red of the sea. The sonnet goes on to say about his mistress.
“If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun”;Skin and breasts were often described as whiter than snow in