{"id":86664,"date":"2022-04-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-11T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nursingstudybay.com\/2022\/04\/11\/william-shakespeare-and-lord-byrons-expressions-of-love\/"},"modified":"2022-04-11T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2022-04-11T00:00:00","slug":"william-shakespeare-and-lord-byrons-expressions-of-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/william-shakespeare-and-lord-byrons-expressions-of-love\/","title":{"rendered":"William Shakespeare and Lord Byron\u2019s Expressions of Love"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Study Bay Coursework Assignment Writing Help<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n<strong>Comparing and Contrasting <\/strong><strong>William Shakespeare and Lord Byron\u2019s Expressions of Love<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\u00a0William Shakespeare and Lord Byron both write about beauty and their love for a woman in their respective poems, \u201cShe walks in Beauty\u201d and \u201cMy Mistresses\u2019 Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun\u201d. There are many stylistic similarities between the two poems; however, the poets differ in the way they express their love. Both poems take inspiration from Petrarchan style poetry, though the way they employ it differs greatly. Shakespeare\u2019s poem does not overflow with multiple metaphors as does Byron\u2019s. In fact, one can easily argue Byron\u2019s excessive use of hyperboles is not true love. He merely uses it to seduce the woman. Although there are many stylistic similarities between William Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cMy Mistress\u2019 Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun\u201d and Lord Byron\u2019s \u201cShe Walks in Beauty\u201d, Shakespeare\u2019s depictions of love in his poem is far more realistic than Lord Byron\u2019s depictions of love.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nLord Byron wrote \u201cShe Walks in Beauty\u201d in 1814 at the young age of twenty-six, after seeing the stunning Mrs. Anne Beatrix Wilmot. One historian states \u201cThe poem of praise \u2018She Walks in Beauty\u2019 was inspired by the poet\u2019s first sight of his young cousin by marriage, Anne Wilmot. Byron\u2019s cousin wore a black gown that was brightened with spangles\u201d (\u201cShe Walks\u201d1). This black gown brightened with spangles is the source of Byron\u2019s light and dark motif, which plays an important role in the poem. Byron writing this poem praising Wilmot after one sight of her further proves the idea that his love for her is not realistic and is merely an expression of lust. Growing up, Byron had a very unstable upbringing which wreaked havoc on his adult life. Byron also had an extensive history of romantic scandals. Thomas Hodgskin writes \u201cByron fled the country in 1816 because his wife, Annabella, was leveling three accusations at him as part of divorce proceedings: as well as incest, he was charged with homosexuality and heterosexual sodomy\u201d (1). Byron\u2019s long history of marriage affairs further proves the point that his extreme use of compliments in his poem is merely a way to seduce the woman. Historian Thomas M. Disch writes \u201cByron\u2019s love lyrics are pure blarney, part of the apparatus of seduction of the nineteenth century\u2019s most accomplished make-out artist\u201d, thus, supporting the claim that Byron\u2019s love expression is superficial compared to Shakespeare\u2019s (591).\n<\/p>\n<p>\nWilliam Shakespeare published \u201cMy Mistress\u2019 Eyes are Nothing like the Sun\u201d in 1609 at the age of forty-five. The topic (sample nursing essay examples by the best nursing assignment writing service) of this sonnet, a woman of anonymous nature, is featured in many of Shakespeare\u2019s sonnets. Shakespeare published a series of sonnets, which gained fame due to his portrayal of the women, and his expression of life throughout the sonnets.\u00a0 One scholar writes \u201cThe sonnets are Shakespeare\u2019s early lyric expression of his perceptions of friendship, of love, of growth through experience, of sin and expiation, of his notions of mutability, plenitude, and reputation, of poetry and the craft of the writer\u201d (Strathmann 3). In earlier sonnets, he describes the woman as \u201cdark-haired with fair youth\u201d (Fraser 5). On the topic (sample nursing essay examples by the best nursing assignment writing service) of the relationship between Shakespeare and this mysterious woman, Shakespearean Scholar Arthur Acheson writes\n<\/p>\n<p>\nI believe, from what I find in the Sonnets, that our poet\u2019s connection with [a] woman\n<\/p>\n<p>\ncommenced at almost the same period as his acquaintance with Southampton, in about\n<\/p>\n<p>\n1593, \u2026 I believe, also, that he genuinely loved her, and was fired with the passion and\n<\/p>\n<p>\nintensity of his love. If ever a man lived who sounded the human heart to its depths, and\n<\/p>\n<p>\ngauged its heights, that man was Shakespeare, and such knowledge as he had, and shows\n<\/p>\n<p>\nus of life, may not attained by hearsay, nor at second hand (18).\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\u00a0Unlike Byron, Shakespeare had a stable marriage; however, the beginning of his marriage was somewhat suspicious. Historian R. Brian Parker writes \u201cAnne Hathaway was eight years older than her bridegroom, twenty-six to his eighteen; and though she is described as \u201cmaiden\u201d in the bond, in fact, she was already three months pregnant. Her first child, Susanna, was born at the end of the following May\u201d (44). While the nature of their marriage was suspicious, Anne Hathaway and William Shakespeare remained married until his death in 1616. Opposite of Byron, Shakespeare was not known for numerous romantic scandals, thus, supporting the claim that Shakespeare\u2019s love is true and the opposite of Byron\u2019s love, which is merely lust.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nAlthough the poets differ in the underlying meaning of their love, there are still significant similarities between the two poems. To start, both are comparing their love for a woman by speaking of her beauty. Another similarity is both poets use of nature to compare their respective women\u2019s beauty. This becomes evident in the first lines of each poem. In the first stanza of his poem, Byron uses three elements of nature to compare his lover\u2019s beauty. He writes \u201cShe Walks in Beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies\u2026\/Thus mellowed to the tender light\/Which heaven to gaudy day denies\u201d (Byron 1-6). He begins by comparing her beauty to night, which was inspired by the brightened black dress Wilmot wore. Wilmot\u2019s beauty compares to the sky, and she shines like the \u201cstarry skies\u201d (Byron 2). Through this, we see how Byron follows the Petrarchan style of poetry, which often involves comparing a woman\u2019s beauty to nature. Opposite of Byron, Shakespeare writes \u201cMy mistress\u2019 eyes are nothing like the sun\u201d (1).\u00a0 He believes that she does not shine brightly in the presence of the sun. He then states other contradictions between his mistress\u2019 beauty and nature. He writes \u201cCoral is far more red than her lips\u2019 red\u201d (Shakespeare 1). Although Shakespeare describes his mistress\u2019 imperfections, he believes her flaws are what make her beautiful. Byron essentially describes the woman\u2019s beauty as superior to nature\u2019s beauty. Conversely, Shakespeare points out the contradictions between his mistress\u2019 beauty, and nature\u2019s natural beauty. He continues to write \u201cI have seen roses damasked, red and white, but no such roses see I in her cheeks\u201d (5-6). Shakespeare does not intend to insult his mistress. Instead, he is merely states that she does not possess beauty beyond the beauty of nature.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nByron and Shakespeare also both take inspiration from Petrarchan style poetry. Petrarchan sonnets are characterized by their ideation of the writer\u2019s object of love to the point of worship. Many critics have described Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cMy Mistress\u2019 Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun\u201d as an anti-Petrarchan poem, as it essentially satirizes the Petrarchan sonnet. Scholar Terri Bourus writes\n<\/p>\n<p>\nThat Shakespeare used Petrarchan love conventions is apparent, but it is when he upsets\n<\/p>\n<p>\nthose conventions, mixes them up, and turns them upside down that his art is witty, most\n<\/p>\n<p>\nfun, and most imaginative. Charney has made a valuable contribution to Shakespeare\n<\/p>\n<p>\nstudies with this provocative examination of Shakespeare\u2019s representations of the human\n<\/p>\n<p>\ncondition and its dependence upon those most common and yet most elusive of all human\n<\/p>\n<p>\nemotions (105).\n<\/p>\n<p>\nDuring the time where courtly love was predominant, poets began to use its traditions in their Petrarchan sonnets. While writing Sonnet 130, Shakespeare essentially ignores the usual conventions of Petrarchan poetry by departing from the idea of idealizing the object of love. On this topic (sample nursing essay examples by the best nursing assignment writing service), one scholar writes \u201cthe idea of a plain, non-idealized regard for the beloved\u201d (Matz 500). In his poem, Shakespeare writes \u201cI grant I never saw a goddess go\/ My mistress, when she walks, treads on ground (11-12).\u201d He is essentially saying that his mistress does not have any qualities that deem her a goddess. She walks on the ground just like every human. This goes against the Petrarchan tradition where poets often compared their respective woman to a goddess, as a goddess is above a human woman. This stands as another way that Shakespeare goes against Petrarchan conventions, thus, making his sonnet Anti-Petrarchan, opposite of Lord Byron\u2019s poem.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\u00a0Both poets also employ the use of the light and dark motif. Shakespeare writes \u201cIf snow be white, why then her breasts are dun\/ If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head (3-4).\u201d Byron employs the use of light and dark and writes \u201cAnd all that\u2019s best of dark and bright\/ Meet in her aspect and her eyes (3-4).\u201d Byron uses this motif to describe not only the woman\u2019s physical beauty but also her internal beauty. Shakespeare employs this motif as a way to point out his mistress\u2019 flaws. He does not do this purely to criticize her. Instead, he compares her flaws to light and dark as a way to show that external beauty does not matter more than internal beauty. This contrasts greatly with Byron\u2019s poem, which focuses mostly on external beauty and only hints towards the woman\u2019s internal beauty.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nThe main difference between Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cMy Mistress\u2019 Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun\u201d and Lord Byron\u2019s \u201cShe Walks in Beauty\u201d is the way they express their love and admiration for their respective woman. Byron\u2019s poem is filled with over exaggerated metaphors to compliment the woman, while Shakespeare uses a more realistic approach to woo his lover. In fact, one could say that Byron writes in a reverent tone. The reader sees this through his great admiration, in which he is essentially worshipping the woman. In comparison, Shakespeare writes in a frank tone. He is straightforward and blunt, as he does not fill his poem with hyperboles to talk his way into a woman\u2019s heart. Another difference is the way the poets use the light and dark motif. As stated earlier, both writers compare the women to light and dark; however, Shakespeare uses it to describe his lover\u2019s flaws. Byron employs it as a mechanism to make the woman seem even more perfect, almost to the point where she seems inhuman. The way he describes her gives her goddess-like characteristics, completely opposite of the way Shakespeare describes his mistress. This makes the contrast between the two writers\u2019 expression of love very evident.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nFrom reading William Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cMy Mistress\u2019 Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun\u201d and Lord Byron\u2019s \u201cShe Walks in Beauty\u201d, one can easily see the contrast between the two poets\u2019 expressions of love. Shakespeare\u2019s love is far more realistic than Byron\u2019s love. In fact, Byron\u2019s love starts to appear somewhat superficial when compared to Shakespeare\u2019s love. Shakespeare does not rely on following any courtly traditions. For Shakespeare, his lover\u2019s flaws are what makes her beautiful to him. Conversely, Byron fills his poem with hyperboles and metaphors to woo his desired woman. He even goes as far as to say that her beauty is far greater than nature\u2019s natural beauty. Although Shakespeare does not overflow his poem with compliments, we see his true love for his mistress in his last two lines. He writes \u201cAnd yet, by Heaven, I think my love as rare\/ As any she belied with false compare (Shakespeare 13-14).\u201d Shakespeare believes that his woman is just as any woman whose beauty has been exaggerated by other poets. In these lines, is where it truly becomes evident that Shakespeare\u2019s love shines above that of Lord Byron\u2019s.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nShakespeare\u2019s depictions of love in \u201cMy Mistress\u2019 Eyes are Nothing Like the Sun\u201d is far more realistic than Lord Byron\u2019s depictions of love in \u201cShe Walks in Beauty.\u201d Although there are many stylistic similarities between the poems, such as the use of nature, taking inspiration from Petrarchan poetry, and the use of the light and dark motif, there are also differences. To start, Byron employs the use of Petrarchan traditions, while Shakespeare essentially mocks Petrarchan techniques. The most significant difference is their expressions of love. Byron highly exaggerates the woman\u2019s beauty, while Shakespeare does the complete opposite. He points out her flaws but states that her flaws are what makes him love her even more. Comparing these poems side by side, one can easily see an example of true love and an example of lust disguised by love.\n<\/p>\n<p>\nWorks Cited\n<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\nAcheson, Arthur.\u00a0<em>Shakespeare and the Rival Poet: Displaying Shakespeare as a Satirist and Proving the Identity of the Patron and the Rival of the Sonnets<\/em>. Kessinger Publishing, 2009.\n<\/li>\n<li>\nBourus, Terri.\u00a0<em>The Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association<\/em>, vol. 35, no. 2, 2002, pp. 103\u2013105.\u00a0<em>JSTOR<\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/1315171\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.jstor.org\/stable\/1315171<\/a>.\n<\/li>\n<li>\nByron, Lord. \u201cShe Walks in Beauty by Lord Byron (George Gordon).\u201d\u00a0<em>Poetry Foundation<\/em>, Poetry Foundation, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/43844\/she-walks-in-beauty\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">www.poetryfoundation.org\/poems\/43844\/she-walks-in-beauty<\/a>.\n<\/li>\n<li>\nFraser, Russell. \u201cShakespeare at Sonnets.\u201d\u00a0<em>The Sewanee Review<\/em>, vol. 97, no. 3, 1989, pp. 408\u2013427.\u00a0<em>JSTOR<\/em>, www.jstor.org\/stable\/27546084.\n<\/li>\n<li>\nMatz, Robert. \u201cThe Scandals of Shakespeare\u2019s Sonnets.\u201d\u00a0<em>ELH<\/em>, vol. 77, no. 2,<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Study Bay Coursework Assignment Writing Help Comparing and Contrasting William Shakespeare and Lord Byron\u2019s Expressions of Love \u00a0William Shakespeare and Lord Byron both write about\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8092,8093,7625,7823,8094,7826,8078],"tags":[7828,8095,450,594,8100,574,8098,8097,8096,8099],"class_list":["post-86664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-affordable-dissertation-writing-service","category-are-dissertation-writing-services-legal","category-assignment-help-uk","category-best-dissertation-writing-service","category-dissertation-writing-service-australia","category-dissertation-writing-services-in-usa","category-professional-dissertation-writing-service","tag-best-dissertation-writing-service-review","tag-best-phd-thesis-writing-services","tag-dissertation-writing-services","tag-dissertation-writing-services-near-me","tag-essay-writer-usa","tag-free-dissertation-writing-services","tag-my-assignment-services","tag-phd-thesis-writing-assistance","tag-phd-writer","tag-research-paper-writing-service-australia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86664\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studyproessays.com\/help\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}