My Mistress’ beauty is nothing like her recent IG post

1. My Mistress’ beauty is nothing like her recent IG post
2. Filter is far more smooth than her skin’s texture
3. If angles on instagram make her beauty engrossed
4. Why does the reality of her body lose its structure 
5. Through a screen her posts upholds a perfect disguise 
6. In a pixelated world her gleaming eyes are the prize
7. No airbrush editing can improvise 
8. The authenticity where her candid self hides
9. She sees my love in the number of her likes
10. But her laughter is where I find happiness behold
11. When her legitimate smile strikes
12. It’s worth more than a social media facade can uphold 
13. Beyond the social screen her true beauty lies within
14. Her genuine splendor makes my heart spin 

For my piece, “My mistress’ beauty is nothing like her recent IG post,” I was inspired to imitate Shakespeare’s sonnet, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun.” So, when thinking of how to make Shakespeare’s sonnet fit our modern age, I immediately thought of social media and different ways to integrate the topic into a sonnet form.  The speaker in Shakespeare’s piece compares his mistress to different world beauties, like the sun. However, the speaker also compares different body parts of his mistress, like her hair and lips. The speaker’s comparison made me think of how frequently people are critical of how they present themselves on social media and even go as far as to compare themselves to different people on multiple platforms. 

So, for my piece, I wanted to have the same aspects of the speaker in Shakespeare’s sonnet, where he compares his lover to different things. Still, for my piece, I wanted my speaker to compare their lover to their Instagram posts and how the speaker doesn’t believe his lover looks like that in person. So I began with a similar opening to Shakespeare, saying, “My Mistress’s beauty is nothing like her recent IG post.”  Yet, I had to keep in mind that the rhyming scheme is every other line, so finding words that rhyme but also flow was a little tricky. I included different aspects people think of when they think of social media. For instance, I continued by saying, “Filter is far smoother than her skin’s texture; if angles on Instagram make her beauty engrossed, Why does the reality of her body lose its structure.” In this, I’m comparing the lover’s skin to the filter she uses, which blurs out her textured skin. People can use angles to get a desired look, but the speaker realizes that their lover’s body does not look like that in real life. 

I tried to include the lover’s body because the Shakespearean sonnet is a lot about physical love, a somewhat sensual love. There is also a slant rhyme within lines two and four. My volta appears in line nine, where the speaker shifts from talking about the facade their lover keeps up on social screens to how the speaker finds happiness with his lover in simple moments, like where the lover portrays pure happiness. My couplet, “Beyond the social screen her true beauty lies within; Her genuine splendor makes my heart spin,” is meant to answer why the speaker’s lover’s beauty on Instagram doesn’t grasp their attention. The answer is that the lover does not present their genuine self on social media, and the speaker is in love with their lover’s genuine self rather than a facade they hold on social media.

Janayah Applon

Pretty and Ugly

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130, “My mistress’ eyes are Nothing like the Sun”, meaning is enhanced by Catherine Tate’s classroom performance by mocking the traditional conventions of love in love poetry.

Throughout the sonnet, Shakespeare mainly relies on hyperbole and imagery to describe the love he has towards his mistress. Instead of comparing, the speaker contrasts her to nature. Traditionally, poets are likely to compare their lover to nature to complement their physical appearance and personality, however by the speaker doing the opposite, he’s stating he loves his mistress more than he loves his beloved, who possibly could be his wife. The overall situation is showing infidelity. How so? The biggest hint is this poem is about a mistress. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, there are numerous definitions, but one in particular states that a mistress is, “A woman other than his wife with whom a married man has a continuing sexual relationship.”  From what is observed through the sonnet is Shakespeare uses a lot of imagery to describe this mistress. He starts off with, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun.” (Shakespeare, Line 1). Just by calling her “mistress” the readers can identify that this ‘love’ poem isn’t the traditional love poem. The speaker is talking about an extramarital relationship, which in some perspectives, is considered unfaithful and absurd. He continues by stating, “eyes are nothing like the sun.” (Line 1) The sun is bright. From stating her eyes are not the sun, the speaker is indicating her eyes are not bright or shiny. So, is he claiming her eyes are dull? Isn’t this the opposite of a compliment towards a woman? It’s not the only example of imagery he provides, he continues with “Coral is far more red than her lips red;” (Line 2). For some, red lips are an attractive and beautiful feature in women. From stating, “Coral is far red than her lips-” (Line 2). He’s basically claiming her red lips are not as attractive or as vibrant as coral.  This is where hyperbole appears. The speaker becomes exaggerated when describing his mistress’ physical attributes, to make the differences more apparent between the beauty of nature and hers. The imagery gives readers a possible visual on how his mistress looks which isn’t really pleasing. He mentions, “If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun.” (Line 3). The era and place this sonnet were written in should also be considered since it will provide a deeper understanding on how these physical details are being negative. In England, precisely around the 1600’s, the whiter a woman was and the redder her lips were the more beautiful they were considered. In this case, this poem, is describing the complete opposite, it is a woman with dull eyes, light red lips, tannish breasts, and unruly black hair. Does it stop there? No. The speaker trails off to the color of her cheeks next, stating, “I have seen roses demasked, red, and white, But no such roses see I in her cheeks.” (Shakespeare, Lines 5 and 6). A rose is the traditional symbol of love and beauty, to say that there are no such roses in her cheeks- Is he calling his mistress ugly?  Is he trying to humiliate her? Compliment her? Does he even love her? He even goes on to describing her breath, mentioning, “And in some perfumes is there more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.” (Lines 7 and 8). He’s even saying her breath isn’t pleasant and stinks. There is exaggeration happening with these lines since he’s stating some perfumes are better to smell than her breath, but why is he saying this? The things he says are quite horrendous, however by stating such things, the speaker is giving his mistress her place. He’s seeing her as who she is and is not describing her with common nature comparisons love poems give when describing their lovers. That’s how Shakespeare mocks traditional love poems. Though it’s ugly, the speaker is demonstrating that his mistress’ beauty is one of a kind, and something that popular attributes that most love poems use cannot describe.

How is this whole meaning enhanced by Catherine Tate’s classroom performance though? When Catherine portrayed that insolent school girl, her attitude was very hideous from the start. Though Shakespeare was more physically descriptive, not too much on behavior they can still be connected in the aspect that both the sonnet and Catherine’s character showed a type of ugliness. She uses the poem as a way to threaten her teacher. She was very aggressive and quick when she recited it enforcing that point. Why though? Why did she use the poem? She transformed the poem’s meaning by literally breaking the beauty ideals in poetry. Even though Shakespeare’s sonnet was quite ugly with its various examples of vivid contrasting imagery, surely, he didn’t want his poem to be read in such a harsh and quick manner, so by Catherine reciting the poem in such a tone and pace, it makes the ugliness stand out more within Shakespeare’s sonnet, “My mistress’ eyes are Nothing like the Sun.”

-Claudia Dominguez

Interpretation of Sonnet

Catherine Tate’s classroom performance enhanced Shakespeare’s sonnet by giving the poem, “My Mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”, a more infuriated tone. In the video, Catherine is performing as an insolent student who conveys Shakespeare’s sonnet, with a faster pace as if giving Shakespeare’s poem a more in depth feeling towards it. When I was reading his poem, the tone that I had captured was soft and passionate, but Catherine’s tone made the sonnet as the approach to a tragic and angering tone; she recited the poem without a care. Rushing the sonnet had made the poem into what seems hateful which contradicted how Shakespeare had interpreted the poem into a loving and admirable approach as he described the features of his mistress, such as, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun; Coral is far more red than her lips’ red” (1-2 Shakespeare). In other words, the sonnet was meant to be an approachable and loving poem but was drawn away from it by how Catherine recited it. In addition, while watching the video the teacher, who was played by David Tennant, was having an argument with Lauren (Catherine Tate) because of her rude behavior towards him and called her dull, in which she replies “A bit like Shakespeare.” This captured my attention because this related to the tone that she used when reciting the sonnet, she read it blandly and without any interest, only reciting the sonnet without actually acknowledging the meaning. Furthermore, Catherine continued to disrupt David’s teaching until he eventually told her no more interruptions, but she continues by mocking sonnets itself or it could be that she is not only mocking sonnets but Shakespeare as well. Her response of mockery was, “Ammist I bovvered. Art thou calling my mother a pox-ridden wench? Art thou calling my father a goodly rotten apple?” Not only does she continue to mock but she also refers to David (the teacher) “My liege” which indicates him as a superior figure. I find this to be interesting because it is as if the male figure had the most power than the female figure (Catherine) in the skit. With that being said, this sonnet could have had different interpretations on how a male or female would view this piece by Shakespeare, either into a loving sonnet or an unpleasant one. 

Celeste Tejeda-Menera

Shakespearean Sonnets Taught By Dr Who, Interpreted By An Annoying English Student

Shakespearean sonnets are taught to many different students around the world, I from first hand experience know that they have been teaching us about Shakespeare’s work since middle school. Many students are not the biggest fans of Shakespeare’s work, but we all know it and I can confidently say that even if you are not a fan of literature you would be able to recognize what a Shakespearean sonnet looks like in the Elizabethan teaching of English Literature.

The poem “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun,” sonnet 130 written by Shakespeare, we are introduced to a mistress which Shakespeare describe in an unorthodox fashion, he explains that “if snow bobwhite, why then her breast are dun,” “And in some perfumes is more delight Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.” Instead of painting his mistress in a light that depicts her beauty and that make the reader think about her in an angelic way, he does the complete opposite and writes al about her flaws. And although Shakespeare decides to do the unconventional and write about his mistress’ flaws, we interpret it as a way to say that her mistress is REAL, that she is human and not perfect like a doll or in this case the sun.

In the poem Shakespeare chooses unconventional, he chooses not to write a poem that us received as your “normal” poem talking about the beauty of a woman. We also find unconventionality in the Catherine Tates’s classroom performance. In the video, Catherine Tete plays a student who is not well behaved, and does not depict the characteristics of a model student. Catherine has her character mock the teacher and say he reminds her of “Dr Who” or saying “I don’t think you’re qualified to teach is english” because the teacher is Scottish. However when the teacher has finally had enough of Catherine he threatens to fail he, she then surprises everyone by reciting “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” a sonnet by William Shakespeare, as mentioned previously. She surprises even the teacher as nobody would expect this from a baldly behaved student with such a reputation, however is happened and she did it correctly, she know what a Shakespearean sonnet is by heart.

This is unconventional and I think in a way helps emphasize the unconventionality that Shakespeare goes for in his poem. Just like how it doesn’t seem normal for Shakespeare to write about loving a mistress who, according to the sonnet, is imperfect is so many harsh ways, writing about her in a way that makes her seem so awful, it doesn’t seem normal for such an awful and uncumbersome student would have the ability to recite a poem by Shakespeare. I also think that there is a better emphasis created on the sonnet by the fact that such an unorthodox student would recite such an unorthodox sonnet by heart, in my eyes this enhances the horribleness of the mistress and brings a stronger pull on the words that are written by Shakespeare.

Another thing that what was worth mentioning when comparing the video and Shakespeare’s sonnet would be the turning point, the volta, that is present in both the poem and the video. Because the poem is a Shakespearean sonnet then it is structure with 12 lines that allow for a narrative build ups and two final couplets that are a turning point in the poem. And just like in the poem, the video is structured in a very similar format with the most of the initial part of the video building a narrative of the dislike that the Catherine’s character has for reading and for Shakespeare, however in the last few lines of the videos she recite the poem and surprises everyone, bring a turning point to the video, a last clap-back and her professor is you will. The video is essentially structured as a sonnet.

Guadalupe Lemus

Tate’s Recitation Touches Up Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s sonnet “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” unfolds a male narrator describing the woman he loves, but while he is very interested in the female, he realizes that she is far from perfect as he does not dare compare to the beautiful things that could be seen in this world. With this poem, Shakespeare explores the use of the sonnet to display his thoughts of the woman he loves as he describes the woman’s body to different aspects of beauty but no matter if she does not reach the standard of beauty. However, Shakespeare twisted the idea of the sonnet as it was expected that the theme of using a sonnet is allowing a male speaker displaying their love to a female close to them, but in the sonnet, the male narrator express his interest in a different way that disregards the woman but he does not care as he had deep feelings. 

Looking into the poem, the male speaker begins, “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” (Line 1), as they describe their female love interest and not being capable of comparing her beauty to the shining sun. The sun is the center of our world to which is something cherished that sheds light to everyone, but the female is not worthy of the brightness she could display. The disregarding of the woman he loves does not stop there as the speaker continues, “I love to hear her speak, yet well I know / That music hath a far more pleasing sound” (Line 9-10), as the speaker describes finding the pleasure in hearing the woman they have feelings for while acknowledging there are more beautiful sounds to listen to, but they stand behind their feelings.

Catherine Tate’s recitation of the sonnet demonstrates a different tone towards the poem Shakespeare expected as Catherine in the setting of a student annoying the new English teacher trying to teach about Shakespeare recites the Sonnet 130. As she continues, she recites the poem in an angry loud tone to her voice which enhances the meaning of the poem as the speaker of the poem who stands forth of what the poem is describing no matter if the love interest is not perfect or their beauty is not shown. The speaker does not care of the imperfectness but still accepts their love for them. 

Naraint Catalan Rios

The Effects of Shakespearean Sonnets Even After his Death

William Shakspere even after his death with his work still has an effect on society today. In his poem, “ My Mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” we can see the theme of love and passion that the author has for his unidentified beloved. It also describes the different traits the lover has that the author is attracted towards. In the comedy skit we see Catherine Tate’s character as an annoying student that doesn’t like the fact that her new English teacher isn’t actually English, he’s actually Scottish. Catherine Tate’s character is of English descent and doesn’t think her new English teacher is qualified to teach her class English just because he is of Scottish descent instead. This brings up the topic of class and ethnic background. Which relates to the way Shakespeare wrote his own pieces he would not only write for the high class members he would also write for the middle class members and when she mocked the fact that “No, reading’s for losers”like saying that those who don’t understand poems and can only read are losers unlike her. With both Shakespeare’s sonnet and Catherine Tate’s comedy skit we can see a similarity. The structure of a sonnet is based on a 14 line poem that follows the iambic rhythm as well as an organized rhyme scheme. The similarity between both pieces is that the first couple of lines in Shakespere’s sonnet were utilized to set the theme/mood and then in the last two lines we were able to witness a twist. For example, “My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground./ And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare/ As any she belied with false compare.”(lines 12,13, and 14) within these lines we can see that the shift happened when he stopped describing his lover’s beauty and instead focused on declaring his love as something unique and rare.  In the comedy skit we can see something similar taking place. The skit begins with the introduction of the class’s new English teacher to which one specific student, Catherine Tate’s character, doesn’t agree with because he has a Scottish accent. Like in the sonnet the first couple of minutes are used to set the tone and mood which towards the end will change and in this case the teacher had enough of her attitude and turned her into a doll. 

Sandra Landa-Sanchez

What a Twist!

When one thinks of Shakespeare, they think of the absolutely perfect author of many plays and stories we heard about from our AP English teachers in school. The one our teachers made seem like the god of all literature. Yet he was actually just a normal man who wrote for the working class and gave them a voice by using English which was the common language of the people at that time. In his sonnet “My Mistresses Eyes are nothing like the sun” Shakespeare goes against the normal idea of a sonnet and even the idea of a poem about a lover. Instead of describing this ‘mistress’ in a loving and beautiful way, he criticizes her looks and even makes her seem ugly. He claims things like, “I love to hear her speak, yet well I know/ That music hath a far more pleasing sound”, her hair is “black wires”, and claiming her breath ‘reeks’. This creates the idea that he has no attraction to her and shows that there is no reason that he should. Yet after these lines, there is a twist which shows his true feelings towards her. This is shown in the vulta of the sonnet in the lines “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare/ As any she belied with false compare.” This ending couplet of the poem shows the opposite and projects his true feelings towards the mistress in the poem, that his love is so immense for her and so real that it the typical similes and overused lines for flattery cannot begin to describe her.

In the comedy sketch it displays a seemingly annoying student continues to pester a new English teacher by questioning his ability to teach based on his Scottish accent. I feel that it honestly emphasizes Shakespeare’s sonnet due to the fact that both Shakespeare and the character, played by Catherine Tate, project a dislike on the subject in front of them whether it be a mistress or learning about Shakespeare, yet later there is a twist to display the complete opposite. The way he describes her in the beginning contrasts so much with the two last lines which provides the surprising twist that he actually has genuine strong feelings for this person. This also shows in the comedy sketch when Catherine Tate’s character mocks old English and seems to make fun of her teacher and English as well. It creates the idea that she believes learning this subject is pointless or even a waste of her time by the fact that rather than listening she continues to mock it and disrupt the class as a whole. Yet, at the end of the sketch, she perfect quotes Shakespeare’s sonnet “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun” and shocks the teacher, showing that she actually has a great understanding and even possibly appreciation for old English and Shakespeare. These two seemed to mirror each other and through having the same sort of twist in a comedic sense in a situation many people can relate to, like a classroom, it clarifies the meaning and impact of the sonnet itself.

Emily Mayo

let me speak.

By: Jocelyn Lemus

Whenever one thinks of a sonnet, they automatically hear “oh! a simple poem.” However one should never push away the difference both a sonnet and a poem carry within the message they are trying to convey. A sonnet is more like a guide with rules to structure a poem and a poem is a way of being more open and free of creative writing. When reading and seeing William Shakespeare’s sonnet “my mistress’s eyes are nothing like the sun,” perform by Catherine Tate, I automatically saw a deeper message using the ability of a tone. Tate’s tone became aggressive and frustrating as she was saying in the clip. This is significant because it demonstrates how the sonnet is being brought into the real world. It is not only said, but shown with the expressions the mouth can perceive. Shakespeare does an splendid job when he is trying to embrace the message of the sonnet because he is capable of use words and manipulate the movement of the mouth along with it.

As I was analyzing the sonnet and comparing it to Tate’s mouth movement and emotional tone, I was able to find the emphasis in her words. For example, when she says, “If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun” (line 3). This becomes a vivid and colored line because with the help of Tate’s tone of her voice, she is able to take this phrase and make it hers. Tate was able to enhance the performance of this sonnet because her facial expressions were able to give in the meaning of the sonnet. Not only was that line a vivid one, but also, “My mistress’eyes are nothing like the sun” (line 1). This is also an important because Tate was able to grab this phrase and turn not only into a ray of sunshine, but the entire light alone. Her voice becomes a shape, a loud and strong shade that has no capacity to exist in any dimension.

In the video, one can clearly see Tate’s frustration develop as she recited the sonnet. Her change of tone shifts extremely quickly from how she began to how she ended it. She said it with so much speed, the heavens couldn’t even listen to every word she was saying. Her accent became thicker and her facial expression became more aggressive as if she wanted the English teacher to not just see her, but she through her. Every skin of the sonnet meant something to her, just like it meant something to Shakespeare. Her way of expressing the sonnet became louder and louder making it more possessive and appealing.

Tate was able to grab Shakespeare’s sonnet and make it hers. She made some magic with it using her lips and her tone, only to make it beautiful and persuading.

SPECIAL

Diane Tarabay-Rodriguez 

William Shakespeare’s sonnet,”My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”is a poem that focuses on the idea of female beauty in a completely different perspective. It contains a similar theme to other traditional sonnets-Female Beauty-but it goes about it in a realistic way. This sonnet contains fourteen lines that are composed of three quatrains and a rhyming couplet. The poem is dominated by an iambic pentameter, and many of the lines are not punctuated, which allows the rhyme to flow smoothly. There are three types of literary devices that work towards enhancing the sound of the poem There is the use of alliteration when words of the same consonants get close together in lines. For example: (1 My, mistress/ 4 wires, black wires/ 9 hear, her/ 11 grant, goddess go). The sonnet contains assonance throughout most of the poem. This happens when words with same/similar vowels are near each other in lines. For example, (1 My, eyes, like/ 4 hairs, hers/ 6 see, cheeks/ 10 that, hath). The repetition in the sonnet places special emphasis on the repeated words and phrases.

When viewing the skit performed by Catherine Tate, we instantly get annoyed by Tate’s character because she is obnoxious. She continues to interrupt the teacher to the point where she makes him explode in anger. He tells her that she will never be as genus and brilliant as Shakespeare. Towards the end, she begins to recite Shakespeare sonnet off the top of her head. She blurs it out in a very fast pace that is difficult to understand with a tone of anger. The reason she recites it in that way is because she is only trying to prove to the teacher that she knows the poem and that she needs no further explanation of it. It came to my understanding that the meaning of Shakespeare sonnet was poorly transformed by Tate’s classroom performance and not enhanced in anyway because I could barely understand what she was saying. After going more in depth between the poem and the skit, I came to the conclusion that the theme of the poem and the way it is performed had a similarity. For example, Shakespeare’s poem talked about how his mistress isn’t anything unique. He states, “My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground. And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare” (12-13). This shows that the poet does not consider his lover as ideally beautiful yet he still loves her. She might seem like any other ordinary women but to him she is special. Tate makes the poem seem meaningless by the way she performs it but THAT sonnet is just like the mistress in the poem, special.