Two-of-a-kind, four centuries apart
A comparative analysis of Shakespeare's “Sonnet 130” and Billy Joel's "She's Always a Woman"
Billy Joel’s 1977 album, The Stranger, has become anything but since my husband and I moved cross-country to Little Neck, New York, a suburb on the northern border of Long Island and Queens.
Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine described The Stranger as:
“…an ode to the singer's native New York underscored by his paranoid obsession (and resistance) to change.”
Fitting for this season of our lives, no?
Each time I dropped the needle, I drew quick parallels between the album and our new life in the city that never sleeps; but flip sides to the original release’s seventh song, “She’s Always a Woman;” my mind stayed stuck on it, like the record had jumped.
“She’s Always a Woman” felt familiar; not because I had obviously heard the song before (many times). No – it reminded me of something I read a long time ago in an English Lit class.
William Shakespeare – I knew that much. Shakespeare and two words. I Googled “dun breasts.”
And there it was: “Sonnet 130” by William Shakespeare.
These two works of art, Joel’s song and Shakespeare’s sonnet, struck a chord. I found myself turning them over and over in my mind.
As I reflected on the album's themes in relation to our new life, I couldn't help but draw parallels between Billy Joel's exploration of love and William Shakespeare's unconventional portrayal of beauty.
Despite their different usage of medium and being written nearly four centuries apart, both are rebellious. They defied traditional standards of beauty during the time that they were written.
Joel paints a complex portrait of love, paying close attention to his beloved’s perceived flaws and undesirable traits. While Shakespeare strips beauty to its core, declaring the rarity of his love despite, by societal standards, her physical quirks.
What’s more – I realized why they stayed stuck in my mind; they had never stopped challenging beauty standards, not even today’s.
Beauty: An Ever-Revolving Door
What diet culture was to the 90s, everlasting youth is to the digital age.
In a recent New York Times op-ed, Alexandra D’Amour, a California-based writer, summed up today’s beauty standards best:
“Wrinkles are the new enemy, and it seems Gen Z – and their younger sisters – are terrified of them.”
Between 10-step skincare routines dominating a large corner of young girls’ for-you-pages on TikTok, to the growing number of serums I, myself, have vigorously rubbed between my fingers and desperately slapped on my cheeks, we’ve sauntered into a new age of beauty standards.
It’s sad, but true. And it’s the kind of thing that gives evergreen art, like our song and sonnet in question, its vibrant hue.
Examining specific lines from both Joel's lyrics and Shakespeare's sonnet, we can uncover the underlying messages that challenge societal norms.
While Shakespeare's “Sonnet 130” challenged beauty standards of the Renaissance, his words remain what we’d call "an unpopular opinion." Similarly, Joel's little ditty defied 1980s expectations of women and continues to today.
But let’s get to brass tax. What pearls of wisdom do the esteemed Billys actually impart?
An Undefined Kinda Love
Rather than comparing his subject to celestial or divine entities, as was common in love poetry of the time, Shakespeare opts for a refreshingly realistic attitude. He acknowledges his mistress's imperfections, describing her in terms that sound unflattering. He notes that her eyes are not as radiant as the sun, her lips not as red as coral, and her cheeks lack the rosy hue typically praised in romantic verse.
It’s straightforward and honest. His words could be taken as harsh, maybe even a bit cruel.
Upon revisiting, you'll find that they're not so much critiquing his lover as they are critiquing an idealized and unattainable standard of beauty.
Similarly, Joel's soft rock ballad celebrates the individuality and complexity of the woman he loves. [Find out about the real woman behind the song.] Verses like “She takes care of herself / She can wait if she wants / She's ahead of her time,” reject widely held notions that to be beautiful and wanted, one must be meek and yielding.
Modern Romance? Or Standards that Refuse to Die?
In much of art and life, we’ve been conditioned to await the dashing and charming lover, who (despite your best efforts to achieve unattainable perfection) still chooses to love you despite your failed attempts.
Raison numéro deux why I (after turning them over and over in my mind) adore this very song and this very sonnet.
Enter stage right is Shakespeare, not riding in on a white horse, but wielding a quill and a sharp wit.
Twelve out of 14 verses in the sonnet are dedicated to portraying his lover as the antithesis of conventional beauty standards. The concluding couplet serves as the crux: “And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare / As any she belied with false compare.”
Shakespeare does not squawk to explain his love or attraction to the reader, he simply is attracted and in love.
Enter stage left is (you guessed it) Billy Joel, not riding in on a bad boy’s motorcycle (ok, maybe), but with a smirk and a melody on his lips. He loves his muse, not in spite of her flaws nor because of them, but because she is, simply, herself.
Here, he holds firm:
“But she'll bring out the best / And the worst you can be / Blame it all on yourself / ‘Cause she's always a woman to me.”
Joel implies that negative aspects of the relationship or behavior are the responsibility of the individual experiencing them, rather than attributing fault to the woman. This suggests acceptance of the woman's influence, acknowledging that we’re ultimately responsible for our own reactions and behaviors.
This is respect. Admiration. Love.
En Conclusion
The timelessness of Billy Joel's “She's Always a Woman” and William Shakespeare's “Sonnet 130” lies in their ability to challenge and transcend societal standards of beauty.
It's ironic. Timelessness often implies enduring brilliance. But their relevance hinges solely on us and our inexhaustible standards of beauty.
It’s high time we kicked all standards to the curb, even at the risk of rendering this song and this sonnet obsolete.