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Inner Beauty In William Shakespeare's Sonnet 18

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In “Sonnet 18”, Shakespeare links two very different aspects of beauty: inner beauty and outer, or natural beauty and true beauty. And, at the same time, he shows how different the one from the other, by presenting an inner beauty that surpasses outer beauty. Beauty is rare and desired, but true beauty is even more so, since it is the beauty that comes from within the person. As Shakespeare indicates, true beauty will forever live while outer beauty lasts only for a couple of years. Inner beauty can be rare, yet Shakespeare was apparently able to find someone who is beautiful from the inside out. In ”Sonnet 18”, Shakespeare uses natural imagery to describe outer beauty, but he then turns the imagery inward, applying his words directly to his beloved: one with a true inner beauty that exceeds outer beauty.
The poem starts by comparing the imperfections of summer to challenge the dazzling outer beauty the loved one possess. Just as the author of ‘The Art of Shakespeare 's Sonnets, Volume 1’ Helen Vender said “Shall I compare thee to a rose? Too thorny. To a dwan? Too brief. To a spring day? Too uncertain. What is the most beautiful thing, the summum bonum, in an (English) world? A Summer’s day.” Shakespeare made great comparison because Summer is where flowers bloom and trees are full of leaves and the weather is warm. No matter how much people love summer and is considered the best season of all, even with it being “too short” and nature has a whole lot of flaws, yet the

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