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Harryette Mullen’s poem “Dim Lady,” a work in her collection Sleeping with the Dictionary, cleverly mimics William Shakespeare’s sonnet #130, also titled “my mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun.” Mullen’s use of form, poetic structure, style, rhyme scheme and subject matter share many comparisons, as well as present many differences, to Shakespeare’s original work. Although written more than three hundred and fifty years later, Mullen’s poem brings to light the same distorted view of beauty that Shakespeare originally wrote about; however, this is done in a uniquely contemporary fashion. “Dim Lady” provides twenty-first century readers with a playful satire that is concerned with the erroneous western standard of beauty in a modern way.
Shakespeare’s sonnet #130 exhibits a very traditional poetic structure and style. The fourteen-line poem features three quatrains and a rhymed couplet that acts as the poem’s conclusion. It is important to note that the couplet is offset from the margin with the lines in the quatrains. The traditional sonnet’s fourteen lines feature the five beat iambic pentameter, consisting of five stressed beats per line. Each line alternates an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Shakespeare’s rhyme scheme features his classic Shakespearean sonnet metre consisting of an ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG pattern. Shakespeare’s use of the sonnet form is quite traditional. The traditionalist style of this sonnet directly correlates to the time-honored content; antiquated structure, antiquated style. The reader can imply the way society views “beauty” by the diction Shakespeare utilizes. The modern reader must labor to clearly understand this Old English language.
On that note, the content of Shakespeare’s sonnet features many outdated stereotypes and sixteenth century vocabulary words not used by poets, such as Mullen, today. For example, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, Shakespeare’s use of the word “dun,” described as a dusky color, is not familiar to modern poets and their readers today. The Oxford English dictionary states that the word was most frequently used between 1568 and 1894, being considered somewhat obsolete to authors today (“dun, n.1”). Shakespeare’s sonnet #130 also possesses English stereotypes. Although these are still regarded with some truth today, these stereotypes were considered the standard for European citizens in the sixteenth century. Shakespeare makes reference to the “breath that from [his] mistress reeks,” drawing on the stereotype that Europeans do not particularly value dental hygiene and fresh breath (Shakespeare). However, on a more modern note, Shakespeare draws on the idea of a class connection to beauty in his sonnet. This is an idea that is unfortunately just as true today as it was in the sixteenth century. In line three of the sonnet, Shakespeare makes a contrast between the whiteness of snow and the aforementioned dun color of his mistress’ breasts. He goes on to describe the thick, black, wiry hair that grows on his mistress’ head. The diction in these two lines of the sonnet suggests that the dark complexion and dark hair possessed by the mistress is not considered to be the most beautiful “standard” of appearances. Shakespeare also mentions the ideally beautiful rosy cheeks, declaring that he does not see these in the face of his mistress. In the concluding couplet of the sonnet, Shakespeare states that despite these stereotypes he maintains a “rare” love for his mistress that cannot be compared (Shakespeare).
Harryette Mullen’s mimicry, “Dim Lady,” on Shakespeare’s sonnet #130 consists of many differences from that of its parent poem. The most notable difference between the two is in that of the structure of the poem. By looking at the way in which the poems lines are arranged, the reader can immediately discern that the poem does not feature the same fourteen-line, three quatrains, followed by a rhyming couplet, structure. Mullen’s poem consists of twelve lines that are read more like prose. The entire poem is one paragraph, without indentions or line-defining characteristics. Unlike Shakespeare’s sonnet, punctuated with many commas and semicolons, Mullen’s poem is punctuated solely with periods. The use of Mullen’s punctuation suggests to the reader that the poem is structured and recited like prose. Mullen’s “Dim Lady” does not feature a traditional rhyme scheme like sonnet #130. In fact, not a single line rhymes with that which follows. Mullen’s work also differs from that of Shakespeare in lack of a specific beat pattern. “Dim Lady” does not possess the iambic pentameter metre. This modern, experimental-style poetry utilized by Mullen directly corresponds to the modern distorted view of what constitutes beauty. This argument is furthered by Mullen’s diction.
When thinking about Mullen’s content, the reader can see that the vocabulary Mullen uses is also quite modern when compared to that of Shakespeare’s. Mullen uses words such as “honeybunch,” “peepers,” “racks,” and “noggin” that a sixteenth century reader would not have been familiar with (Mullen). Mullen also makes use of words made somewhat famous by modern, twenty-first century pop-culture. The phrase “main squeeze” is a prime example of this. There is no doubt that a sixteenth century Shakespearean reader would not have understood this reference. It is also important to note that the references to Red Lobster and Twinkies are unquestionably modern-day ideas that would perplex a sixteenth-century reader. However, in comparison, Mullen, much like Shakespeare, references the idea of a timeless sexual icon in her poem. Shakespeare simply makes reference to an unspecified goddess, when discussing his mistress; however, Mullen specifically makes reference to the iconic Marilyn Monroe, a definite modern sexual symbol.
It is vital to consider the ways in which both sonnet #130 and “Dim Lady” parody and satirize the western standard of beauty. Unfortunately, this stereotype has survived over the years separating these two works. Although written five centuries apart from one another, readers from the sixteenth and twenty-first centuries can and would have understood this parody. Mullen, like Shakespeare, calls attention to the fact that the lady being portrayed is “plain” and has a darker than fair complexion. Mullen writes that the lady’s “racks are institutional beige” and describes her hair as having the characteristic color of dishwater (Mullen). Much like Shakespeare’s concluding couplet, although differing in form, Mullen ends her experimental piece with the statement that her “scrumptious Twinkie has as much sex appeal… as any lanky model or platinum movie idol who’s hyped beyond belief” (Mullen). The poets here share the view that despite whatever the western standard of beauty is thought to be, their women are beautiful in their eyes.
Implications for the readers of both of these poems are essentially the same. Readers in the sixteenth century, as well as readers today, take away the same basic idea from the poems. Stereotypical western beauty is not the only look that is “beautiful.” These two poems are in sync with their main idea, or moral if you will.
Harryette Mullen’s poem “Dim Lady,” a work in her collection Sleeping with the Dictionary, cleverly mimics William Shakespeare’s sonnet #130, also titled “my mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun.” Mullen’s use of form, poetic structure, style, rhyme scheme and subject matter share many comparisons, as well as possess many differences, to Shakespeare’s original work. Mullen’s modern take on a Shakespearean classic allows readers to understand the stereotype of what is considered “beautiful” today, while also seeing the way in which this disgusting form of judgmental and demeaning behavior by humans has not changed in the past three centuries. This longstanding stereotype has developed a modern feel and context which is ultimately presented through Mullen’s experimental poetry.
Works Cited
Mullen, Harryette. “Dim Lady.” Sleeping with the Dictionary. Los Angeles: University of California, 2002. 20. Print.
“Dun, n.1”. OED Online. September 2013. Oxford University Press. 10 November 2013 <http://www.oed.com.ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/view/Entry/58436>.
Shakespeare, William. “My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing like the Sun (Sonnet 130).”POETS.org. Academy of American Poets, 1997. Web. 10 Nov. 2013. <http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15557>.
UT English Lit Major 