Shakespeare Vs. Petrarch

William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 130" and Francis Petrarch's "She Used To Let Her Golden Hair Fly Free" both deal with the issue of ideal and unconditional love. However, they go about explaining this love in exceedingly different manners. Petrarch often depicts his lover as beautiful and angelic. On the contrary, in "Sonnet 130", Shakespeare describes his loved one by describing her human-like characteristics, implying that she is not angelic, but mundane, and the poem has thus been categorized as "anti-Petrarchan".

In "Sonnet 130", Shakespeare seems to concentrate on his mistress's physical imperfections by portraying to the reader that this woman is not an attractive creature. He draws quite a picture with his words by exclaiming that "coral is far more red" (2) than her drab lips, her hair is of "black wires" (4), "roses damasked" (5) surpass the color of her cheeks, and "in some perfumes is there more delight" (7) than the stench of this woman. She cannot sing to save her

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He also revealed that his "flame burned furiously" (8) for her, because of her immense divinity. Petrarch presents a strong, clear message to his reader by his use and repetition of religious diction.

Both of these sonnets illustrate the notion that true love cannot be based on looks alone. Despite his constant implications of imperfection concerning her, this sonnet is not about an unsightly female. It is for this reason that this particular sonnet has been

labeled "anti-Petrarchan". By using holy terms on numerous occasions, he is trying to explain just how heavenly this girl is. This is evident because he thinks of his "love as rare" (13), and she "belied"(14), or was misrepresented, for her inner beauty

exceeded her looks. Unfortunately her beauty faded with time, however Petrarch had come to realize that her inner beauty was just as paradisiacal as her looks, and so "the wound bleeds on" (14). And even though the loveliness of this woman dwindles with time, it is her inner beauty that entices his love for her. Petrarch's sonnet is an expression of his blessed love for his mate wherein he describes her as attractive and sublime. This would be described as superficial love. Nevertheless, the two authors go about describing the appearance of their maidens in distinct fashions. This concept introduces an ironic tone, because most people would judge a book by its cover and would not be able to fall in love with someone like his mistress, but he overcame her physical attributes and fell in love with the mind, not the body. And by proclaiming that this woman "when she walks, treads on the ground" (12), Shakespeare implies that this woman does not posses angelic qualities, that she is of this earth.

Approximate Word count = 682
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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