Gender in Shakespeare's Sonnets Much has been made (by those who chose to notice it) about the fact that in Shakespeare's sonnets, the beloved is a young man. It is remarkable, from a historical perspective, and raises intriguing, if unanswered, questions about the nature of Shakespeare's relationship with the young man who inspired these sonnets. Given the censorious attitudes of 16th-century England toward homosexuality, it may seem surprising that Will's beloved is a man. However, in terms of the conventions of idealized courtly love poetry, it is surprisingly little different whether Will's beloved is male or female; To put it more clearly, in a way it makes more sense that the loved one is a man. Will's beloved is "more beautiful and more temperate (18.2)" than a summer's day; "the tenth Muse (38.9);" "'Righteous,' 'kind,' and 'true' (105.9); » the sun which shines “in all its triumphant splendor (33.10). » We've heard it all before. This idealization of the beloved is perhaps the most common traditional characteristic of love poetry. However, taken to its logical conclusion, idealized love has surprising implications. To idealize the loved one is to claim for him (or, in a sense, to confer on him) certain characteristics. The Ideal is the One: perfect, self-sufficient, unified, complete. The Ideal needs nothing. The coherent, static and homogeneous Sun is ideal; the changeable and incoherent Moon is not. To the extent that the Ideal is the One, it is also the True. The image coincides with reality; appearances don't deceive. There is, for Will, a battle between his eye and his heart -- "My eye and my heart are in mortal war / How to divide the conquest of thy sight: (46.1-2)" -- but they are not disagree on the value. : ". . . my eye is due to your outward part, / And my heart is to your inner love of the heart (13-14)." The interior and exterior are in harmony; beauty is good. This could create a problem, since your loved one will eventually become old and ugly, then die and become fodder for worms. There is certainly in the sonnets a concern with the ravages of the “scythe of time”. And Will doesn't say, "I'll love you when you're old and ugly." » The body will wither and die. But the Ideal can be saved if more images are printed. Will urges his beloved to reproduce, to "bring forth another you (6.