Daniel wrote a conventional love sonnet using the traditional Petrarchan style of putting the idea of love, or the mistress, on a pedestal. Shakespeare turned these ideas on their heads by portraying a mistress who was by no means special and most certainly unappealing. In comparing Daniel's Sonnet 6 and Shakespeare's Sonnet 130, I have come to the conclusion that Daniel s and Shakespeares ideas of the perfect lady and of true life on the most part differed. During Daniel's time there was a traditional way of writing love poems. Many of these poems talked of an unattainable woman whose love and perfection was so great she could only be considered to be divine. This is exactly what Daniel did. He wrote of an idea of what the perfect love would be using metaphors. Daniel uses metaphors that related to something of great power or energy, such as the sun, writing "although her eyes are sunny." Daniel uses the sun to compliment the mystical sense of his mistress. When Daniel talks of the eyes, he is explaining the power that can be seen in her eyes. This of course is not a realistic portrayal of a woman, but rather an idea of the kind of love that is so powerful, so heavenly that it is unattainable. Daniel tries to prove that his mistress has a love so powerful and deep that it can only be an idea. When many people think of an idea of love that is perfect, many would say that women of purity and beauty would be the perfect woman. Daniel states this thought when he says "Chastity and Beauty, which were deadly foes." Here Daniel says that his mistress is pure, innocent, and beautiful. He is asking the reader to find a woman that perfect. There also seems to be reference to the divine in this line. Daniel is possibly comparing his mistress to the Virgin Mary. This would be the ultimate example of divinity. He is speaking of someone that is worthy enough and pure enough to have God's only child and being pure. To Daniel this i...
