My Misstress' Eyes by William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare's My Misstress' Eyes is a beautiful poem that is easy to understand. The entire poem is explaining how this man's mistress lacks perfection. The man almost completely degrades the woman, but at the end there is a twist that brings the theme of opposing gender stereotypes. Rather than being the shallow, materialistic speaker of To His Coy Mistress, this speaker states, "And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare" (Shakespeare, 13). This speaker shows that even though his mistress lacks being the ideal woman, he still loves her regardless. This goes against the gender stereotypes for men because society views that men look for looks, but this speaker states otherwise. By looking past these imperfection, the speaker truly feels a rare love for this woman. I think when he says rare love he is referring to the fact that most men would not have feelings for a woman like this. This poem challenges people to observe what what truly attracts a person of the opposite gender to them.