Does the Brutal Truth in Sonnet 130 and a Beautiful Young Nymph Going to Bed Take Away the Beauty of the Poem?
Does the brutal truth in Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnet 130’ and Swift’s ‘A beautiful Young Nymph going to bed’, take away from the beauty of the two poems.
Beauty and aesthetics can be defined as “Nothing more nor less, than sensitivity to the sublime and the beautiful and an aversion to the ordinary and ugly”, this means that beauty can be absolutely anything which is beautiful as long as it is not ugly or ordinary, this may seem harsh, much like the poems by William Shakespeare and Jonathan Swift. In both poems; ‘Sonnet 130’ by William Shakespeare and ‘A beautiful young nymph going to bed’ by Jonathan Swift, aesthetic beauty is explored in a brutal and honest light. Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnet 130’ tells the story of a man describing his mistress intimately, yet distastefully; “… why then her breasts are dun.” Whereas in ‘A beautiful young nymph going to bed’, Swift tells the story of a low class prostitute in London in the 18th century “Pride of Drury Lane”, and her undressing “Takes off her artificial hair”.
When considering beauty and aesthetics within the poems; “Sonnet 130” and ‘A beautiful young nymph going to bed’, it may seem impossible to think of the poems as beautiful when they include such vulgarity and distaste towards the women within them; Shakespeare’s ‘Dark Lady’ and Swift’s work of fiction ‘Corinna’. However, the poems are written and presented beautifully, and may be considered well deserved of their place within the canon of English Literature. The worth and value of texts within the canon of English literature “… are generally characterised by complexity of plot, structure, language and ideas.” Despite the ugliness in the poems, the way the poems are written and the complexity of them, still leave the poems as classic texts to be enjoyed and appreciated. The use of metaphors, similes and the complexity of the story within both makes them eligible for the canon of English literature, showing that a poem can still be considered beautiful for the way it
Beauty and aesthetics can be defined as “Nothing more nor less, than sensitivity to the sublime and the beautiful and an aversion to the ordinary and ugly”, this means that beauty can be absolutely anything which is beautiful as long as it is not ugly or ordinary, this may seem harsh, much like the poems by William Shakespeare and Jonathan Swift. In both poems; ‘Sonnet 130’ by William Shakespeare and ‘A beautiful young nymph going to bed’ by Jonathan Swift, aesthetic beauty is explored in a brutal and honest light. Shakespeare’s ‘Sonnet 130’ tells the story of a man describing his mistress intimately, yet distastefully; “… why then her breasts are dun.” Whereas in ‘A beautiful young nymph going to bed’, Swift tells the story of a low class prostitute in London in the 18th century “Pride of Drury Lane”, and her undressing “Takes off her artificial hair”.
When considering beauty and aesthetics within the poems; “Sonnet 130” and ‘A beautiful young nymph going to bed’, it may seem impossible to think of the poems as beautiful when they include such vulgarity and distaste towards the women within them; Shakespeare’s ‘Dark Lady’ and Swift’s work of fiction ‘Corinna’. However, the poems are written and presented beautifully, and may be considered well deserved of their place within the canon of English Literature. The worth and value of texts within the canon of English literature “… are generally characterised by complexity of plot, structure, language and ideas.” Despite the ugliness in the poems, the way the poems are written and the complexity of them, still leave the poems as classic texts to be enjoyed and appreciated. The use of metaphors, similes and the complexity of the story within both makes them eligible for the canon of English literature, showing that a poem can still be considered beautiful for the way it
Bibliography: Sonnet 130 – William Shakespeare A beautiful Young nymph going to bed – Jonathan Swift Shakespeare’s Sonnets Oxford English Dictionary Critical Anthology Success in English Literature - Croft www. Brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/j/Jonathan swift 3.html