FREE ESSAY ON DANIEL'S "SONNET 6" VS. SHAKESPEARE'S "SONNET 130"

DANIEL'S "SONNET 6" VS. SHAKESPEARE'S "SONNET 130"

Daniel wrote a conventional love sonnet using the traditional Petrarchan style of putting
the idea of love, or the mistress, on a pedestal. Shakespeare turned these ideas on their
heads by portraying a mistress who was by no means special and most certainly
unappealing. In comparing Daniel's "Sonnet 6" and Shakespeare's "Sonnet 130," I have come
to the conclusion that Daniel' s and Shakespeare's ideas of the perfect lady and of true
life on the most part differed.
During Daniel's time there was a traditional way of writing love poems. Many of these
poems talked of an unattainable woman whose love and perfection was so great she could
only be considered to be divine. This is exactly what Daniel did. He wrote of an idea of
what the perfect love would be using metaphors.
Daniel uses metaphors that related to something of great power or energy, such as the
sun, writing although her eyes are sunny. Daniel uses the sun to compliment the mystical
sense of his mistress. When Daniel talks of the eyes, he is explaining the power that can
be seen in her eyes. This of course is not a realistic portrayal of a woman, but rather
an idea of the kind of love that is so powerful, so heavenly that it is unattainable.
Daniel tries to prove that his mistress has a love so powerful and deep that it can only
be an idea. When many people think of an idea of love that is perfect, many would say
that women of purity and beauty would be the perfect woman. Daniel states this thought
when he says Chastity and Beauty, which were deadly foes. Here Daniel says that his
mistress is pure, innocent, and beautiful. He is asking the reader to find a woman that
perfect. There also seems to be reference to the divine in this line. Daniel is possibly
comparing his mistress to the Virgin Mary. This would be the ultimate example of
divinity. He is speaking of someone that is worthy enough and pure enough to have God's
only child and being pure. To Daniel this is what kind of love and qualities his mistress
has and this can only truly be an idea. In contrast, Shakespeare has his own way of
writing this image.
Shakespeare chooses an unconventional form of love poetry. The form he uses almost mocks
the traditional form of love poetry that Daniel writes about. Shakespeare believes that
true love is not an idea. He believes it is a real woman with all of her flaws. This
woman is not considered unattainable or divine, but rather she is mortal. To him this is
the idea of true love.
Shakespeare tried a much different approach to explaining what his idea of the perfect
love would be. 
Shakespeare uses the sun to describe his mistress as being mortal. Shakespeare states
this at the beginning of his poem when he says,  My mistress' eyes are nothing like the
sun. From the beginning Shakespeare speaks of a woman that does not seem to have
unearthly power and an unattainable love, but rather he is saying she is simple and true.
There is nothing special about this woman. This is vastly different from the way Daniel
portrays his mistress as having divine qualities.
Throughout his poem, Daniel works on establishing a heavenly image of his mistress.
Daniel refers to perfection many times n his poem. He writes that his mistress and
perfection are one in the same.
Daniel's visual image of his lady, like many poets of the time, is trying to install a
vision of a woman that is divine and perfect. Daniel expresses this when he says, Sacred
on Earth, designated a Saint above. Daniel is saying that although she is on earth she
has heavenly qualities, much like that of a saint. If his mistress were anywhere other
than on Earth she would undoubtedly be considered a goddess or a saint. Throughout his
poem in explaining his mistress, Daniel speaks of his mistress's perfection. She is
worthy of the title Saint and anyone who comes into contact with her will undoubtably
think the same. Shakespeare himself also establishes a visual image of his women. 
Shakespeare description of a woman is the opposite of Daniel. Shakespeare's uses
metaphors that conjure images of a very unappealing woman. Shakespeare uses the fact that
she is unappealing to express his love for her. This is ironic because Shakespeare is
saying that his love is as true as all the other conventional poems that fail in their
comparisons. This is Shakespeare's way of explaining that true love comes from inside a
person.
Shakespeare says the opposite of Daniel and by no means wants to put a false identity on
his mistress. Shakespeare emphasizes how simple his lady is. Shakespeare speaks of this
simplicity when he says,  I grant I never saw a goddess go. In this line Shakespeare
seems to be taking his lady off the pedestal that Daniel puts his mistress on. This
vision of a mistress being a goddess almost seems to amuse Shakespeare. Shakespeare knows
that a man cannot truly love an idea. Though that man may want to, he is faking his love
and this can not be the true love that he has for his woman. The couplets of both writers
vary greatly also. 
Daniel writes of a lady that he could possibly come into brief contact with. Daniel may
have not even have spoke to her, but the brief contact with her was enough to inspire an
image of someone so perfect that it could only be true love. Daniel also suggests that
this woman he writes about is unattainable and this saddens him. This brief contact must
have impressed him so much that he saw everything he ever wanted in a woman, but he left
it as an idea, or a vision. In the ending couplet he speaks of this when he says,  Oh had
she not been fair and thus unkind, My Muse had slept and none had known my mind. Daniel
is thanking this woman for giving him the inspiration to write this poem. He is saddened
to not be able to attain her but he knows that if he were to have more than simply brief
contact with her it will spoil his idea and vision of what the perfect love would be to
him.
In the couplet of Shakespeare sonnet he seems to be saying, here I am and this is my
woman, she is ugly and imperfect by my love for here is as true as any. Shakespeare is
saying that he does not need to falsely compare his mistress to that of a goddess because
he loves her for who she is. Not an idea, but a real person.
In his couplet Shakespeare is saying that a false comparison is not needed to describe a
woman. He writes, and yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare as any she belied with
false compare. This is where Shakespeare comes out and says that his woman, is not
perfect but she is beautiful to him and there is no truer love than Shakespeare's for his
woman. Shakespeare is saying how rare his love is because he accepts his woman for who
she is. Not a perfect woman. Daniel portrays his mistress as unattainable and immortal.
Shakespeare on the other hand will challenge anyone who thinks through false compare that
their love is truer than his. Shakespeare does not need to falsely compare his woman to
someone divine. He expresses his lady as being simple and able to accept his true love.
With his use of traditional Petrarchan writing, Daniel paints a perfect idea of a woman,
one who is immortal and unattainable. Shakespeare, on the other hand mocks this style of
writing and creates a vision of a more human woman who has flaws and is anything but
perfect. In conclusion, these two writers have different views on what true love is, and
the kind of woman they admire. Neither way is wrong, but are simply two contrasting ways
of expressing how a man looks at a woman.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. Shakespeare's Sonnets. Ed. Katherine Duncan-Jones. New York:
Thomson Learning, 1997.
(Teacher's Handout for Daniel's Sonnet 6)