In the present text I’m going to analyze Sonnet 20 by William Shakespeare, which is also known as “A woman’s face with Nature’s hand painted”, to discover its theme and make a comparison with “The Portrait of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde.

The title invites curiosity about the identity of the woman: who is she and what does she look like? At the same time the reader understands that the poem belongs to a collection since the title is equal to the first line.

The poem is arranged into 14 lines, as you expect by a sonnet, of different length. The rhyme scheme is regular and it confers musicality to the text.
The first six lines are used by William Shakespeare to describe a feminine beauty. In lines 7-8 the reader understands that the woman of the title and so of the poem is an handsome man who attracts both men and women thanks to his charm. Initially, Nature created him as a woman but after felling in love decided to transform her into a man. Since Nature added something to him for women pleasure, William Shakespeare will leave physical manifestation of love for them and he will continue to love him spiritually.

Moving now on with a more connotative analysis, the reader will soon notice that many words are linked to the semantic area of beauty and love to underline the poet’s feeling and the man’s attractiveness. Moreover the language is quite archaic and therefore difficult, it is explained by the fact that the poem is of the 16th century.
The most important figure of speech is the personification of Nature, which is described as a woman who shapes human beings.

In conclusion the main theme of the sonnet is beauty and the love connected to it. The topic is very similar to the one in “The Portrait of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde. Both men are handsome for women and men and their beauty is made eternal by a poem in the first case and a portrait in the second one. Moreover they’re eternalized by someone who is in love with them.