My Mistress' Eyes

"My Mistress' Eyes"
William Shakespeare

In stark contrast to "Barbie Doll" by Margie Piercy, "My Mistress' Eyes" presents a less-than-perfect woman who still is able to hold the eye and the heart of her lover. This pokes fun at the traditional view of woman as needing to be angelic; "I grant I never saw a goddess go, My mistress, when she walks treads on the ground," (885). The speaker is saying that even though he has never seen an angel or a goddess, his lover is even better because she physically exists on the earth with him. This is strange because most of Shakespeare's poetry, and the majority of poems from that time period for that matter, tend to actually compare the physical features of one's love to these aspects of nature. On the contrary, the speaker in this poem tells how his love's features are less beautiful than those of nature.

After researching this poem online, my primary observance was confirmed. This poem is assumed to be written to counteract the trite style of the Petrarch love poem style of the time. Petrarch wrote "Laura," a poem that I studied in World Literature during my sophomore year, and many poets of the time tried to copy this style of praise. However, Shakespeare went against the popular convention and instead showed the imperfect side of love, the more common side of love. He had the courage to challenge what love was considered to be and to accept a woman who was less than perfect despite society's expectations. Isn't that what every girl dreams of in the end? A man who accepts her as she is and not some Barbie Doll?