Beauty, From the Eyes of the Beholder

Hello, again!! I do know that my blog last week was quite formal, and I’ve decided to change it up a bit, and post something a little more personal and fun for our British Lit blog this week.

So, I’ve just recently finished reading a few of Shakespeare’s many sonnets, and a specific one stood out to me. Sonnet 18, to be exact. Now, it didn’t stand out because of its beautiful language, or lovely message, or any literary component at all, which might strike some as odd (especially because I spent two years being trained to only see the literary qualities of works of literary merit). In truth, this particular sonnet struck me because of the television show Doctor Who. In rather a funny turn of events, the show makes out that Shakespeare wrote the sonnet for the lovely Martha Jones, a 21^st century doctor who travels with the actual Doctor for a period of time, meeting Shakespeare in the process. And that’s the only reason I really recognized the sonnet.

However, upon reading further into the sonnet, I realized how pure and true the sonnet is in regards to falling in love with something. It especially came through for me in that the sonnet perfectly describes the feeling of knowing you’ll always be in love with something, no matter how old either party gets. Shakespeare says, “… thy eternal summer shall not fade”, which somehow perfectly elucidates that when someone loves something (or someone), that love never really goes away, if it’s a true, pure love (like the season of summer) (Shakespeare, 9). As most people would tend to agree, this particular sonnet definitely pervades with the theme that love conquers all.

Even, as Shakespeare says, “Nor shall Death brag thou wandr’st in his shade,” demonstrating the everlasting idea that death can’t claim love or beauty for his own (11). Evidently, though Shakespeare sees the imminence of this mysterious love of his leaving (or, for those Doctor Who fans, Martha Jones taking the TARDIS away with the Doctor), he knows she will be beautiful for all of time, and so his love will last with her everlasting beauty. 

Although this really is quite a sappy ideal, and in most cases I might scoff, and say that no person is that good, this really gets to me, because the wording is so romantic and idealistic. The use of a summer day to symbolize the woman’s beauty is quite apt, in my opinion. I feel that, beyond the fact that this is Shakespeare, and recognized all over the world as one of the most romantic poems in all of history, there is a purity and sincerity behind the words that simply can’t be explained.

In many ways, this sonnet is one of the best ways I could explain something I love, such as cheerleading. There never was anything I loved more, and Shakespeare’s words explain the depth of love so perfectly. He says towards the end, “So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, / So long lives this, and this gives life to thee” (13-14). In the end, his love for this woman and her beauty conquered everything else for Shakespeare, just as my love for cheerleading has always (and will always) last. Often, in both people and things, there’s a beauty that others can’t often see, unless they love that person or thing the same as you. And the beauty within the thing or person gives it immortality, just as Shakespeare’s woman’s beauty gives her everlasting life (in his eyes). But, explaining this beauty can be very difficult. For example, if I just give you these videos (please watch them, they’re less than 3 minutes apiece), and told you they were beautiful, you wouldn’t understand.

But, to a seasoned veteran of cheerleading, they each epitomize what the sport is about. The first, a video of the Top Gun Jags from Worlds this spring, is essentially a tribute to their teammate, Omar, who died last year. Every person in that stadium is with the team and cheering for the team, even the ones competing with a rival team. The Jags did worlds for Omar, and even though it’s the highest honor to even make it to Worlds, they stick the entire routine like their cheer careers depend on it, as if this world title could be their last gift to Omar. And it’s beautiful. In all the ways a person could never express beauty, the Jags routine from Worlds 2013 is absolutely, totally, unequivocally beautiful. It’s beautiful in the same way Shakespeare’s mysterious woman is beautiful, “more lovely and more temperate” than the most beautiful thing Shakespeare could possibly imagine, a summer’s day (2).

The second video I threw in is of the Lady Bullets from Worlds this year. They take beautiful to a completely different place than the Jags did. The Bullets are just… well, gorgeous. They all take such pride in their routine, and put their whole selves into the routine (as it should be). You can tell that they wouldn't want to be anywhere else but on that floor, and that excitement and drive and passion alone makes the routine beautiful. Then, they top it off by being nearly perfect, technically.

In both cases, it’s a beauty not well explained or told, and can only be experienced, as they say, in the eye of the beholder. But, isn't that what beauty is? Hasn't every classical author since the dawn of time tried valiantly to explain the beauty of something, only to fail because the words just didn't exist?

So, my parting question to you: If it really is beautiful, is there ever a way to adequately describe it so someone else can see the same beauty as us? I could try for several thousand more words to explain the beauty of the Jags and the Bullets, and goodness knows I’d fail fantastically. Could Shakespeare ever really show us just how beautiful his mysterious woman was, how deep his love was because of her beauty? Or are real beauty and true love two things that we may never find words to adequately describe?